280 Shares in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Purchased by Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Novartis by 1.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,485,000 after buying an additional 11,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 314.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,563,000 after buying an additional 41,815 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $120.83. 902,631 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,412,403. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $111.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 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 last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.13.

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.