Atria Investments Inc Acquires 191 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,040 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 191 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in 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 valued at $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth $64,610,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 343.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after acquiring an additional 509,567 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $105.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.56 and a 200 day moving average of $109.78. The company has a market capitalization of $216.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.