Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Has $3.73 Million Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,423 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,079 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,127,000 after buying an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,938,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Novartis by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,797,000 after acquiring an additional 124,111 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 509,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Novartis by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 22,998 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Down 0.3 %

NVS opened at $101.66 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.30.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.66 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.