Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Purchased by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,996 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,290 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $25,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position in Novartis by 73.5% in the first 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $106.45 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $217.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $114.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.