Brookstone Capital Management Increases Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,833 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 162 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 480.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $106.46 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $102.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $217.60 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.19 and a 1-year high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.67.

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.