Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $7,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 3.0% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Novartis by 1,029.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 4,333 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in Novartis by 2.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 21,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 7.9% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $109.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.02. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.