Novartis AG $NVS Shares Bought by Brandes Investment Partners LP

Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 262,797 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,922 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Novartis were worth $36,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 102.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 11,444 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth about $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 48.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,581 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $149.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $149.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.67. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $112.34 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The stock has a market cap of $284.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.Novartis’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.