Banco Santander S.A. Lowers Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Banco Santander S.A. cut its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,220 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $6,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after buying an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at $15,044,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $854,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 115.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,797,000 after purchasing an additional 124,111 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. 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 report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.6 %

NVS stock opened at $103.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $112.10 and its 200 day moving average is $110.00. The firm has a market cap of $212.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.66 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.