Grandfield & Dodd LLC Has $18.68 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,363 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,821 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $18,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of 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 buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,318 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares during 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, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Novartis by 343.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after purchasing an additional 509,567 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $103.27 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.58 and a 200 day moving average of $110.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $211.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during 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 firm earned $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.63 EPS for the current 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.