QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 5,767 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 191,635 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,767 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $23,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $266,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Novartis by 16.8% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 6,849 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,909,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 10.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 33,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 9.0% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $132.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $279.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $133.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $123.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.18.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Profile

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.