Haverford Trust Co Acquires 746 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Haverford Trust Co lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,423 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 746 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Founders Financial Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 3.4% in 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 last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $103.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $212.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.61 earnings per share 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.