Procyon Advisors LLC Has $2.40 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,873 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 73.5% during the first 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. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $116.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $115.86 and its 200-day moving average is $107.49. The stock has a market cap of $237.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released 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. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.52 EPS 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.