Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Acquired by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 257.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,702 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,990 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Novartis by 23.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth $64,610,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its holdings in Novartis by 40.1% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after acquiring an additional 590,830 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on NVS shares. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set 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 shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $116.24 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $237.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $115.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.04.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.