Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC Raises Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC grew its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,709 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 899 shares during the quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $109.35 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $115.76 and its 200 day moving average is $109.23. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 posted $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut 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 research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.