Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC Buys 475 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,918 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 73.5% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.7 %

Novartis stock traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $118.56. The stock had a trading volume of 800,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,430,203. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $118.59. The firm has a market cap of $242.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $109.76 and a 200 day moving average of $103.13.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on NVS shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.13.

Novartis 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.