Montecito Bank & Trust Raises Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Montecito Bank & Trust grew its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,480 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 121 shares during the quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Novartis were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $788,626,000 after buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in Novartis by 53.7% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,610,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in Novartis by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after buying an additional 590,830 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned 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 price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $107.08 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.55. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.