Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Holdings Increased by Nixon Peabody Trust Co.

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,770 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $14,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,112,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,436,000 after buying an additional 267,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $102.86. The company had a trading volume of 59,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,339,510. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $210.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $113.14 and its 200-day moving average is $110.01.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

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.