CreativeOne Wealth LLC Takes Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,772 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 15.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,225,000 after acquiring an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,669,000 after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 31.7% in the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,112,491 shares of the company's stock worth $118,436,000 after purchasing an additional 267,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $121.00 target price (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, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $105.77. 679,724 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,174,519. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.23. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS 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.