Independence Bank of Kentucky Purchases 346 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 21.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,963 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Novartis were worth $190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in Novartis by 480.0% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NVS traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.46. 1,516,862 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,321,776. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $102.22 and a 200-day moving average of $101.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.67.

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.