11,722 Shares in Novartis AG $NVS Purchased by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased 11,722 shares of Novartis AG, valued at approximately $1.3 million, in the first quarter, indicating institutional interest in the company.
• Novartis reported earnings of $2.42 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 12.3% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook on Novartis, with the stock receiving an average rating of "Hold" and a price target of about $124.33.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,307,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Novartis by 5.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company's stock worth $959,535,000 after buying an additional 422,869 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 60.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Novartis by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,180,281 shares of the company's stock worth $243,058,000 after acquiring an additional 47,690 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,258,639 shares of the company's stock worth $140,313,000 after acquiring an additional 55,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 824,371 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,901,000 after acquiring an additional 28,460 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS traded up $1.07 on Thursday, hitting $127.62. The stock had a trading volume of 920,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,011,819. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $121.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.63. The stock has a market cap of $269.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.63. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $130.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.50.

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.