Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Has $1.76 Million Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,561 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.33.

Novartis Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $124.12 on Monday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $130.46. The company has a market cap of $262.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $121.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.84.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.