Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,873 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 141,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.38.

Novartis Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $1.04 on Friday, reaching $117.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 127,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,401,424. The company has a market capitalization of $240.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.40. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.48 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.