Veracity Capital LLC Purchases 716 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,960 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at $256,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 179,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,408,000 after acquiring an additional 5,253 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 15,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $534,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $117.18 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.99. The firm has a market cap of $239.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.