Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Novartis AG by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, acquiring a total of 146,533 shares valued at approximately $17.86 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs and New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC, significantly boosted their stakes in Novartis, demonstrating increasing investor confidence in the company.
• Novartis reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.42, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting a 12.3% year-over-year revenue increase to $14.05 billion.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 146,533 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,780 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $17,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 366.0% in 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 Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded up $0.51 during trading on Monday, hitting $123.44. 992,438 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,870,115. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $260.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $121.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.24. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. 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 research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.