NBC Securities Inc. Buys 170 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,662 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,473,000 after acquiring an additional 16,015 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 14,686 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Novartis Trading Down 0.1 %

NVS opened at $116.24 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.57. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $115.98 and its 200 day moving average is $107.63.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.52 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.