Fulton Bank N.A. Boosts Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,535 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Syverson Strege & Co purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. 7.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $102.63 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $101.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $217.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.54. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $105.61.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $13.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.32 million. Novartis had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 25.12%. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NVS shares. HSBC started coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.00.

Novartis Profile

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Innovative Medicines and Sandoz. The Innovative Medicines segment offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It also provides cardiovascular, ophthalmology, neuroscience, immunology, hematology, and solid tumor products.