Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 183,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,078,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. 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 research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock traded down $0.96 on Wednesday, hitting $99.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,024,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,328,736. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $202.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. 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.