Fmr LLC Purchases 70,314 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

FMR LLC grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,353,412 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned about 0.07% of Novartis worth $155,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $279,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 82.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 25,175 shares of the company's stock worth $2,435,000 after acquiring an additional 11,395 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 24.8% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 34,482 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,671,000 after buying an additional 6,862 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 0.9% in the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 12.5% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 61,569 shares of the company's stock worth $6,555,000 after buying an additional 6,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE:NVS traded down $2.73 on Wednesday, hitting $101.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,621,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,336,001. The company has a market cap of $208.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.56. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The business's fifty day moving average is $109.95 and its 200 day moving average is $110.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.66 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.