FLC Capital Advisors Buys 700 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

FLC Capital Advisors boosted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,286 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 66.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $131.46 on Monday. 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 AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $133.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $126.54 and its 200-day moving average is $118.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.64.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.