Creative Planning Has $48.19 Million Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 398,258 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,267 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Novartis were worth $48,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisory Resource Group boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 10,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 93.3% during the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,076 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 50,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,093,000 after purchasing an additional 4,733 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,285,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $131.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.38. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $134.00. The firm has a market cap of $277.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $13.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cfra set a $126.00 target price on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.33.

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.