Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Purchased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,683 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.22% of Novartis worth $479,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Novartis by 16.7% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,482,000 after acquiring an additional 4,897 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth $3,229,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 50.4% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,803,000 after acquiring an additional 686,847 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Novartis by 3.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,431,000 after acquiring an additional 36,269 shares during the period. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC raised its position in Novartis by 29.4% during the third quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 6,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $105.72 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $99.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.63. The stock has a market cap of $216.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The business had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.50 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.67.

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.