Earnest Partners LLC Grows Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG by 3.6%, owning 824,371 shares valued at approximately $91.9 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Recent analyst ratings indicate a shift, with Wall Street Zen downgrading Novartis from "strong-buy" to "buy," while Morgan Stanley upgraded it to "equal weight" with a target price of $123.00.
• Novartis reported earnings of $2.42 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 12.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 824,371 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 28,460 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $91,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Novartis by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,586 shares of the company's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 90,587 shares of the company's stock worth $8,815,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock worth $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated 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 on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $126.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $267.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.62. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $128.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.00.

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

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