SYM FINANCIAL Corp Invests $211,000 in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 503.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $102.53 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $109.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.20. 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 $209.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. 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 previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.