Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 26,317 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 938,844 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $107,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after purchasing an additional 11,080 shares during the period. Integral Health Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 33.3% during the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $854,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 0.3 %

NVS stock opened at $103.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $210.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $113.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.84. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis 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.