Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Purchases 33,954 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG by 3.1%, acquiring an additional 33,954 shares for a total of approximately 1,135,326 shares valued at $137.386 million.
• Novartis recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.42 EPS, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $14.05 billion, reflecting a 12.3% increase compared to the previous year.
• The current consensus rating for Novartis stock is "Hold," with an average price target of $120.33, after various brokerages updated their ratings.

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,135,326 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,954 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Novartis worth $137,386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Cypress Capital Group raised its position in Novartis by 84.1% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Novartis by 16.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,909,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Novartis by 8.9% during the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 33,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $130.54 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $126.24 and a 200-day moving average of $118.37. The company has a market capitalization of $275.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $133.55.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on NVS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $120.33.

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.