Simon Quick Advisors LLC Acquires 1,821 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,553 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,821 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Novartis by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Novartis by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,180,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,058,000 after purchasing an additional 47,690 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,736,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,181,000 after purchasing an additional 128,302 shares during the period. Finally, New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 12,664.1% in the 1st quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,407 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $123.92 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $127.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $261.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $133.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $13.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on shares of Novartis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.33.

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.