Chicago Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Chicago Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,830 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at $64,610,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 40.1% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued 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 dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Up 0.6 %

NVS stock opened at $117.18 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.09. The stock has a market cap of $239.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.52 EPS for the current 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.