Bank of Montreal Can Buys 509,567 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 343.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 657,903 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 509,567 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in Novartis were worth $70,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Novartis by 1.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company's stock worth $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter worth $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Novartis by 6.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company's stock worth $17,485,000 after buying an additional 11,080 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Novartis by 314.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,563,000 after buying an additional 41,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the first quarter valued at about $2,968,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $116.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,046,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,867. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $238.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $114.46 and a 200-day moving average of $105.73. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during 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 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.