Wulff Hansen & CO. Acquires 321,121 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10,528.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 324,171 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 321,121 shares during the quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $34,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted 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 during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 53.7% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its holdings in Novartis by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 99.0% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 746,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,661,000 after purchasing an additional 371,590 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.70.

Novartis Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $116.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.76 and a 200 day moving average of $105.11. 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 AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.