1,759 Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Purchased by Spinnaker Trust

Spinnaker Trust bought a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its position in Novartis by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.8% in the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 0.9% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 5.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $106.81 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $218.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.55. 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 AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NVS. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

About Novartis

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.