Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Holdings Lifted by Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,144 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 191.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 15.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,225,000 after buying an additional 231,851 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 31.7% during the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,112,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,436,000 after buying an additional 267,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Novartis by 2.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,986,000 after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $103.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $211.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $111.60 and its 200-day moving average is $110.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal 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.