Novartis AG $NVS Shares Purchased by Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 15.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 85,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $10,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,121,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,762,000 after acquiring an additional 358,282 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,581,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,427,000 after buying an additional 78,483 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,736,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,181,000 after buying an additional 128,302 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Novartis by 0.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,597,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,552,000 after acquiring an additional 12,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 3.1% in the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,135,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,386,000 after acquiring an additional 33,954 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NVS shares. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, December 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $145.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.51. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $97.71 and a 1 year high of $146.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $135.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.42.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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.