Novartis AG $NVS Shares Purchased by MAI Capital Management

MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,493 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,964,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 66.0% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVS. Cfra Research raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, November 10th. Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.33.

Novartis Stock Up 2.3%

NVS stock opened at $127.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $134.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.91.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The firm had revenue of $13.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

About Novartis

Novartis AG engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It focuses on therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, as well as ophthalmology and hematology.