Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Bought by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,005 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,067 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Intergy Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 3.9% during the first quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,828 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Novartis by 4.7% during the first quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,515 shares of the company's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.8%

NVS stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $114.62. The company had a trading volume of 842,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,012,072. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $124.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $117.90 and a 200 day moving average of $111.54. The company has a market cap of $242.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.59.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.67.

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.