Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Takes $389,000 Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued 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 target price of $118.13.

Novartis Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $112.53 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $230.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $113.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $108.33 and its 200 day moving average is $102.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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.