Plancorp LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Plancorp LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG by 77.9% in the 1st quarter, now holding a position worth $955,000 after acquiring additional shares.
• Novartis reported earnings per share of $2.42 for its last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.04, with revenues rising 12.3% year-over-year.
• Analysts' ratings on Novartis shares include a mix of "Buy", "Hold", and "Sell", with an average recommendation of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $124.33.

Plancorp LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 77.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,569 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,752 shares during the quarter. Plancorp LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $955,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 12,664.1% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,407 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 14,376.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,079,000 after purchasing an additional 722,272 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Novartis by 5.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter valued at $24,763,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Novartis Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Novartis stock traded down $1.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $126.49. The stock had a trading volume of 984,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,899,688. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 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 $130.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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.