Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Bought by Citigroup Inc.

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. has increased its stake in Novartis AG by 9.7% during the first quarter, now holding 237,359 shares valued at approximately $26.46 million.
• Novartis reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.42, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $2.38 and indicating a revenue increase of 12.3% from the previous year.
• Multiple institutional investors have recently modified their holdings, with a total of 13.12% of Novartis' stock now owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,359 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,023 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $26,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Novartis by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $796,372,000 after buying an additional 90,823 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 60.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,258,639 shares of the company's stock worth $140,313,000 after purchasing an additional 55,316 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $109,739,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.50.

Novartis Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $122.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,211,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,547. The firm has a market cap of $258.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.62. 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 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $124.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $118.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.82.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.97 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis 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.