Americana Partners LLC Has $3.22 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Americana Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,018 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously 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 issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.71. 484,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,345,550. 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 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.01.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm 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 prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

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.