Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC Buys 145 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,659 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 6.5% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after purchasing an additional 11,080 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth about $2,968,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed 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. One research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $117.18 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 capitalization of $239.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current 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.