Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS – Free Report) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,277 shares of the company’s stock after selling 648 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 514.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,461,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,669,000 after purchasing an additional 7,085,365 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Novartis by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,604,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235,303 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Novartis by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,982,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,371,000 after acquiring an additional 279,999 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Novartis by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,488,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,609,000 after acquiring an additional 377,693 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Novartis by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,173,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,974,000 after acquiring an additional 180,186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.00% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Finally, HSBC began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.40.
Novartis Stock Performance
NYSE NVS opened at $101.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $102.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.36. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $74.24 and a 12-month high of $105.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.54.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $13.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.32 million. Novartis had a return on equity of 25.12% and a net margin of 14.76%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. Research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.
About Novartis
Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Innovative Medicines and Sandoz. The Innovative Medicines segment offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It also provides cardiovascular, ophthalmology, neuroscience, immunology, hematology, and solid tumor products.
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