Addison Advisors LLC Purchases 121 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,783 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $105.68 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $216.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $114.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.78. 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 posted 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. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

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.