Banco Santander S.A. Acquires 4,615 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. has increased its stake in Novartis AG by 8.0%, now holding a total of 62,424 shares worth approximately $6.96 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus rating of "Hold" for Novartis, with an average target price of $123.67.
• Novartis reported a quarterly EPS of $2.42, exceeding expectations, and experienced a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.3%.

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,424 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,615 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $6,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 423,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,176,000 after acquiring an additional 111,066 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 9.0% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 13,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,635 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 11.1% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 38,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,303,000 after acquiring an additional 3,846 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.67.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $115.25 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $124.83. The company has a market cap of $243.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.94 and a 200 day moving average of $111.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.