Addison Advisors LLC Buys 351 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 15.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,662 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 45,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $214,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 21.8% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 178,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,942,000 after buying an additional 31,812 shares during the period. Nottingham Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $255,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $6,006,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $117.34. 333,876 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,402,626. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.45 and a 200-day moving average of $104.40. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $239.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.38.

Novartis 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.