WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Purchases 100 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,494 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Novartis by 0.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,112,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,436,000 after buying an additional 267,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $105.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.56 and a 200 day moving average of $109.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. On average, 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 research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.