Narus Financial Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Narus Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth approximately $534,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $230,000. IAM Advisory LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 13,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Novartis by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $117.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.09. The company has a market cap of $239.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Analysts expect 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.