Kennebec Savings Bank Acquires Shares of 5,382 Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $619,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 4.8% in the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 0.9% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company's stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company's stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NVS stock traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $105.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 487,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,339,673. The company has a market cap of $216.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $114.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.78. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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 report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.