Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,717 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,409 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,717 shares during the period. Novartis accounts for about 1.9% of Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 95,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the last quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Interchange Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 5,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Up 0.4 %

NVS stock traded up $0.47 on Friday, hitting $120.89. 902,659 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,020,458. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.89. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $247.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.