Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after buying an additional 11,080 shares during the period. Integral Health Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $854,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $106.81 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $115.11 and its 200-day moving average is $109.55. The company has a market capitalization of $218.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.