Larson Financial Group LLC Purchases 1,176 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2,218.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,229 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,176 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after buying an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $15,044,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $854,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Novartis by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,797,000 after buying an additional 124,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE NVS opened at $104.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $110.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.66 earnings per share 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.