Caprock Group LLC Has $3.56 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Caprock Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,985 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,904 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its stake 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 worth $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 worth $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 31.7% during the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,112,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,436,000 after acquiring an additional 267,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One 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.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $103.27 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $112.58 and its 200 day moving average is $110.10. 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 $211.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share 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.