Golden State Wealth Management LLC Invests $69,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $2,591,000. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 50,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Novartis by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $804,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Up 0.5 %

Novartis stock opened at $106.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

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.