Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 296,890 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 128.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 528,682 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $51,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after acquiring an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,986,000 after acquiring an additional 26,317 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after acquiring an additional 123,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,676,000 after acquiring an additional 13,486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $105.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.41. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $215.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.79% and a net margin of 23.56%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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.