Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires 22,998 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,976 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Novartis were worth $4,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 149.3% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $103.80 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $111.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.23. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

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