Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Invests $1.07 Million in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. invested $1.07 million to acquire 9,619 shares of Novartis AG in the first quarter, indicating growing interest in the pharmaceutical company.
• Analyst ratings for Novartis are mixed, with one analyst upgrading the stock to "equal weight" while another downgraded it to a "buy," leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $123.50.
• Novartis reported a 12.3% year-over-year increase in revenue, reaching $14.05 billion, and earnings per share of $2.42, surpassing estimates for the quarter.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,072,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.50.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NVS opened at $126.41 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $128.03. The company has a market capitalization of $267.02 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.41. 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 (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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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