Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Boosts Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 229,800 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 57,000 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Novartis were worth $24,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth about $29,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

Novartis Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE NVS opened at $115.03 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $115.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.18.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS 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.