Midwest Trust Co Invests $32.30 Million in Novartis AG $NVS

Midwest Trust Co purchased a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 266,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,297,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the first quarter worth $25,000. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 66.0% during the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NVS opened at $126.43 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $127.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $267.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $133.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $13.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.06 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.33.

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.