Caprock Group LLC Has $3.50 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 96.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,889 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,153 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Private Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $116.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $238.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.66 and a 200-day moving average of $104.52.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.38.

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.