Coastline Trust Co Increases Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Coastline Trust Co grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 41.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,621 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,060 shares during the quarter. Coastline Trust Co’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Novartis by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,473,000 after acquiring an additional 16,015 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 53.7% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 31.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 267,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $103.06 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $113.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.84. The company has a market capitalization of $210.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.63 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.