Delphi Management Inc. MA Increases Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Delphi Management Inc. MA boosted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,882 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up 1.5% of Delphi Management Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Delphi Management Inc. MA’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Novartis by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Novartis by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,264,000 after purchasing an additional 54,683 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,523,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,082,000 after purchasing an additional 14,686 shares during the period. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its stake in Novartis by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $115.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

Novartis 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.