Novartis AG $NVS Shares Bought by Financial Advocates Investment Management

Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 84.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,278 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Novartis by 5.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,535,000 after buying an additional 422,869 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,252 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,180,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,058,000 after acquiring an additional 47,690 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 8.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,736,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,181,000 after acquiring an additional 128,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 12,664.1% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,407 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $130.44 on Thursday. 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 $275.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $134.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $128.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.30.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. HC Wainwright downgraded Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.33.

Novartis Company 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.