Boston Partners Acquires 11,247 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 27.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,730 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,247 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Novartis were worth $6,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth $25,000. GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 66.0% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $131.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $277.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $134.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.32.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The company had revenue of $13.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.06 EPS. Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.33.

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.