Brighton Jones LLC Raises Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,399 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Novartis by 1,345.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 7,480 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Novartis by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 266,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,913,000 after buying an additional 31,452 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Finally, Team Hewins LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $317,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NVS shares. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America lowered 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $115.94 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $236.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.48.

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

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.