Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Buys 1,150 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,856 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position in Novartis by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter worth $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $103.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.79. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.