Fred Alger Management LLC Has $2.80 Million Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,295 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,852 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 11,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.2% in the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 35,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,783,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth $233,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 343.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,652,000 after buying an additional 509,567 shares during the period. Finally, Integral Health Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company 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 given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $115.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $114.55 and its 200-day moving average is $105.80. 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 AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $236.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.