Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Acquires New Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $116.92. 51,679 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,398,310. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.38.

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.