US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 242,627 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,150 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE's holdings in Novartis were worth $27,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company's stock worth $57,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 6.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company's stock worth $17,485,000 after purchasing an additional 11,080 shares during the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 33.3% during the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company's stock worth $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,968,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.50.
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Shares of Novartis stock opened at $109.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $223.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $115.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.12.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current year.
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.
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