<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in  Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor  bought 34,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,416,000.</p><ul><li>Novartis' Moonshot Cancer Therapy Could Be Future Growth Driver</li></ul><p>Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in  Novartis by 13.2% in the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,742 shares during the last quarter.  Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of  Novartis by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,305,000 after purchasing an additional 14,032 shares in the last quarter.  HM Payson &amp; Co. raised its holdings in shares of  Novartis by 306.6% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson &amp; Co. now owns 13,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter.  Sonora Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of  Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $266,000.  Finally, Cypress Capital Group boosted its holdings in  Novartis by 84.1% in the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company's stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. </p><h2>Novartis Trading Up 0.0%</h2><p>Shares of Novartis stock opened at $141.85 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $97.39 and a 1 year high of $143.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $133.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.41. The company has a market cap of $299.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. </p><ul><li>3 Top Big Pharma Stocks Investing Over $100 Billion in the U.S.</li></ul><p>Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. Novartis's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share.  As a group, sell-side analysts expect that  Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year. </p><h2>Analysts Set New Price Targets</h2><p>Several research firms have weighed in on NVS. HSBC  restated a &#34;reduce&#34; rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley  reissued an &#34;overweight&#34; rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a &#34;buy&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings  reiterated a &#34;buy (b)&#34; rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Cowen  restated a &#34;hold&#34; rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One investment analyst  has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued  a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned  a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of &#34;Hold&#34; and a consensus target price of $119.75.</p><ul><li>3 Momentum Stocks That Could Soar Post-Market Volatility</li></ul><p><b>View Our Latest Research Report on NVS</b></p><h2>Novartis Company Profile</h2> (Free Report)<p>Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.  </p><p>The company's activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.</p><h2>Read More</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Novartis</li><li>“Ominous day” coming to stocks…</li><li>Punch these codes into your ordinary brokerage account</li><li>The Crash Has Already Started (Most Just Don’t See It Yet)</li><li>Trump just signed it</li><li>A month before the crash</li></ul><p><strong>Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVS?</strong> Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report).</p><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPU5WUw?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="350" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPU5WUw"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Novartis Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Novartis, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Novartis wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Novartis currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

<p>Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired 34,439 shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) valued at approximately $4.4 million during Q3. Other institutional investors also increased their stakes, with Keybank National Association raising its holdings by 13.2%. Novartis reported Q3 earnings of $2.25 EPS, slightly missing estimates, but revenue rose to $14.36 billion. Analysts have mixed ratings on Novartis, with an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $119.75. The company focuses on innovative pharmaceuticals across various therapeutic areas.</p>

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Acquires New Shares in Novartis AG $NVS