FLC Capital Advisors Increases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

FLC Capital Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,366 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. FLC Capital Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 4.8% during the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 0.9% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 5.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock opened at $116.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $238.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $116.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.69. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.70.

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.