Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,996 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,290 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $25,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NVS. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Down 0.6 %

NVS stock traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $106.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,176,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,183,021. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.70. 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 has a market capitalization of $217.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.