Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Purchases 9,591 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 127.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,119 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,591 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Founders Financial Securities LLC grew its position in Novartis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Novartis by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Novartis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS traded up $0.80 on Friday, hitting $113.93. 156,760 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,328,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $116.44 and its 200 day moving average is $108.39. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $232.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.70.

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.