Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stake Reduced by Old Port Advisors

Old Port Advisors cut its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,577 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $2,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Novartis by 191.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased 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 valued at $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,610,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 40.1% during the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after buying an additional 590,830 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $115.60 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $116.41 and a 200-day moving average of $108.89. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $236.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57.

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.