Marshall Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Marshall Financial Group LLC has acquired a new stake in Novartis AG, purchasing 15,634 shares valued at approximately $1,909,000.
• Several large investors increased their stakes in Novartis during the fourth quarter, with notable increases including Two Sigma Investments LP boosting its holdings by 91.3%.
• Analyst ratings for Novartis have varied, with current consensus being a "Hold" rating and an average price target of $120.33.

Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 15,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,909,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS traded up $0.91 during trading on Monday, hitting $123.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 482,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,867,123. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $130.46. The firm has a market cap of $261.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $121.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.24.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $120.33.

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.