Boston Partners Raises Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Boston Partners lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,730 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,247 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Novartis were worth $6,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in Novartis by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth approximately $266,000. Cypress Capital Group increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 84.1% in the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Novartis by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,909,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Bank of America upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $130.23 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $128.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $275.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $134.00.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.