Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Purchases 8,321 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 26.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,664 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,321 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 191.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,610,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Novartis by 343.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,652,000 after buying an additional 509,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Novartis by 10,528.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,511,000 after acquiring an additional 321,121 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.4 %

NVS stock opened at $104.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $213.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $111.87 and a 200-day moving average of $110.12.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

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.