Martin Investment Management LLC Has $25.95 Million Stock Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Martin Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG by 2.5%, now holding 232,753 shares valued at approximately $25.9 million, making it the firm's fourth largest position.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. saw a substantial increase in its holdings by 60.3% in the first quarter, now owning over 3.6 million shares worth $408 million, reflecting significant institutional interest in the company.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an "underweight" to an "equal weight" rating with a target price of $123.00, as the stock maintains a consensus rating of "Hold" among analysts.

Martin Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,753 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,670 shares during the quarter. Novartis comprises about 6.5% of Martin Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Martin Investment Management LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $25,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NVS. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.50.

Novartis Trading Up 0.1%

NVS traded up $0.1210 during trading on Friday, reaching $126.9410. 1,339,349 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,553,184. The company's fifty day moving average price is $119.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 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.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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.