HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 2,488 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG by 1.1%, holding a total of 237,841 shares valued at approximately $26.52 million.
• Novartis reported earnings of $2.42 EPS, exceeding estimates by $0.04 and marking a 12.3% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook on Novartis, with an average rating of "Hold" and a target price of $123.50, following an upgrade from Morgan Stanley.

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 237,841 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,488 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $26,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $1.1070 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $125.1170. 415,027 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,977,465. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $125.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.23. The company has a market capitalization of $264.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.Novartis's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.