Integrated Advisors Network LLC Buys Shares of 2,349 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NVS. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $109.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.12. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $223.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

About Novartis

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.