CWA Asset Management Group LLC Buys Shares of 25,676 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 25,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,953,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $106.45 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $114.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.62. The company has a market capitalization of $217.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. 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 Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

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.