Foster & Motley Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,969 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Essex Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.9% during the second quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 4,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.8% during the second quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 5,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 14,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,709,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $131.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $133.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $126.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.58. The company has a market capitalization of $277.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.64.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.33.

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.