Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Buys 119 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,573 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 4.8% in the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.9% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.4% in the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NVS opened at $105.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.78. 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 (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

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.