Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Invests $2.27 Million in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in Novartis by 4.7% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 331,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,288,000 after purchasing an additional 14,858 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.7% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 6,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 297.1% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 17,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after buying an additional 12,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,855,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $115.61 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $236.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.