Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Holdings Increased by Adero Partners LLC

Adero Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 45.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,807 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 874 shares during the quarter. Adero Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 16,015 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised 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 worth $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,112,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,436,000 after buying an additional 267,490 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $103.06 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.92. The company has a market cap of $210.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Company 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.