Rockland Trust Co. Purchases New Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Rockland Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 6,599.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 149,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,084,000 after purchasing an additional 147,165 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,844,000. Mengis Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 81,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,274,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 9,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,000 after buying an additional 4,358 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $117.77. The company had a trading volume of 499,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,431,295. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $109.53 and its 200 day moving average is $103.03. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $118.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.13.

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.