283 Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Bought by Richardson Financial Services Inc.

Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Novartis by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,264,000 after purchasing an additional 54,683 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,523,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,082,000 after purchasing an additional 14,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE NVS opened at $116.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $114.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.36.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

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.