Novartis AG $NVS Shares Acquired by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Novartis AG by 60.3% to a total of 3,660,485 shares, valued at approximately $408 million, following a significant purchase in the first quarter.
• A range of institutional investors have recently adjusted their holdings in Novartis, with notable increases from firms such as New Vernon Capital and GAMMA Investing.
• Analyst ratings for Novartis show a mixed outlook, with one "Strong Buy," several "Hold," and some "Sell" ratings, while the average target price is set at $124.33.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 60.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,377,252 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Novartis worth $408,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Ruggaard & Associates LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 7,399 shares of the company's stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 77.9% during the 1st quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 8,569 shares of the company's stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the period. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 12,664.1% during the 1st quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company's stock worth $154,204,000 after buying an additional 1,372,407 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 592,245 shares of the company's stock worth $66,023,000 after buying an additional 35,943 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Down 2.8%

NYSE NVS traded down $3.58 on Friday, hitting $124.12. 1,861,337 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 997,220. 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 AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $130.46. The company has a market cap of $262.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $121.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.73.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $118.00 target price (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed 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 given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Novartis Company Profile

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.