Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 116,890 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 12,001.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 117,864 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 116,890 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $14,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 66.0% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. HC Wainwright cut Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $130.44 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $128.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.30. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $134.00. The stock has a market cap of $275.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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.