Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Lowers Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,769,638 shares of the company’s stock after selling 175,745 shares during the quarter. Novartis comprises approximately 0.9% of Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.28% of Novartis worth $663,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 503.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on NVS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report 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. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $104.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $213.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $111.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.20.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.