Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Purchased by Atomi Financial Group Inc.

Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,391 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,389 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Novartis by 1.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 6.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company's stock worth $17,485,000 after purchasing an additional 11,080 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,938,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $2,968,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:NVS traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $113.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 697,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,364,081. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.49 and a 200-day moving average of $106.81.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current 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.