Northside Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Northside Capital Management LLC increased its position in Novartis AG by 788.7%, owning 29,290 shares valued at approximately $3.54 million at the end of the second quarter.
• Novartis reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.42, surpassing analyst expectations of $2.38, with revenue reaching $14.05 billion, a 12.3% year-over-year increase.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Novartis, with ratings ranging from a **Strong Buy** to a **Sell**, while the average target price is set at $120.33.

Northside Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 788.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,290 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 25,994 shares during the quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $3,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 60.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,252 shares during the period. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 12,664.1% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,204,000 after buying an additional 1,372,407 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 14,376.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,079,000 after purchasing an additional 722,272 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Novartis by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares during the period. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at $24,763,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NVS opened at $122.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.63. 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 AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $130.46.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $120.33.

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.

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