J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases 257 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,310 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis by 4.8% in the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis by 0.9% in the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 5.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Novartis by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated 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 cut 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. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $110.56 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.01. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $225.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis Company 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.