Fmr LLC Boosts Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Fmr LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70,314 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $155,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 503.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $104.57 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.31.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.