IAM Advisory LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

IAM Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,550 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 840 shares during the quarter. IAM Advisory LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Novartis by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 41,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,162,000 after acquiring an additional 8,116 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,044,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after acquiring an additional 11,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE NVS traded up $0.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $111.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,037,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,516,447. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $113.00. The company has a market cap of $228.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.