Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Takes $15.04 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 141,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,044,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,264,000 after purchasing an additional 54,683 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,473,000 after acquiring an additional 16,015 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,523,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,082,000 after acquiring an additional 14,686 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in shares of Novartis by 40.1% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after acquiring an additional 590,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS traded up $0.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $111.91. 1,037,510 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,516,447. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $107.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $113.00.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.13.

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.