Rhumbline Advisers Grows Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,810 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Novartis were worth $4,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVS. Private Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 1.1 %

NVS stock opened at $116.95 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $113.76 and a 200-day moving average of $105.11.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price 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 research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

About Novartis

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.