Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS – Get Rating) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 429,087 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $37,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Novartis by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 13.4% in the first quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 972 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 6.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the company's stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.1% in the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,220 shares of the company's stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.8% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,596 shares of the company's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.40% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $85.68. 2,593,727 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,986,253. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $79.09 and a 1-year high of $95.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $84.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on NVS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from CHF 80 to CHF 81 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 20th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Novartis from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from CHF 85 to CHF 88 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from CHF 90 to CHF 94 in a research report on Friday, May 6th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from CHF 85 to CHF 88 in a research report on Thursday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $87.33.

About Novartis

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Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Innovative Medicines and Sandoz. The Innovative Medicines segment offers prescription medicines for patients and healthcare providers. It also provides ophthalmology, neuroscience, immunology, hepatology, dermatology, respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism medicine products.

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