Northeast Investment Management Acquires 6,223 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Northeast Investment Management increased its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,153 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,223 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Novartis by 191.1% in the second 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 during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 53.7% in the first 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 during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings in Novartis by 40.1% in 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. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 99.0% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 746,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,661,000 after buying an additional 371,590 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $32,003,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $119.94. 860,029 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,418,804. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $120.67. The stock has a market cap of $245.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company 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 business earned $1.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.44 EPS for the current year.

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.