Ethic Inc. Acquires 17,059 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,843 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,059 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $17,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Novartis by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,962,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,067,000 after acquiring an additional 413,778 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,330,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,308,000 after acquiring an additional 19,595 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,275,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,649,000 after acquiring an additional 41,520 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the first quarter worth about $220,004,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 9.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 619,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,594,000 after purchasing an additional 54,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $162.73 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.25. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $123.24 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $310.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.53 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 18.11% and a return on equity of 41.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 9.04 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $163.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.25.

About Novartis

Novartis AG is a Swiss pharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing innovative medicines. Its research and products address conditions in areas including oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular, renal and metabolic health.

The company’s medicines include treatments such as Kisqali for certain breast cancers, Cosentyx for inflammatory diseases, Entresto for heart failure and Kesimpta for multiple sclerosis. Its portfolio also includes radioligand therapies and other specialized treatments.

Novartis was formed in 1996 through the merger of Swiss companies Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz.