Ballentine Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,380 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,264,000 after buying an additional 54,683 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,442,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,599,000 after purchasing an additional 33,791 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 3.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,431,000 after purchasing an additional 36,269 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 931,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Novartis by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 863,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,993,000 after purchasing an additional 85,075 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.67.

Novartis Trading Up 2.1 %

NVS traded up $2.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $107.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 120,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,469,841. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $108.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $100.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $219.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Company 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.