Spinnaker Trust Invests $202,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Spinnaker Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $106.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.55. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis 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.