U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,518 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tsfg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:NVS opened at $122.80 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $130.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $121.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $259.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Company 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.