Focus Financial Network Inc. Acquires New Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Focus Financial Network Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,264,000 after acquiring an additional 54,683 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake 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 valued at $248,473,000 after acquiring an additional 16,015 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 0.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,523,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,082,000 after buying an additional 14,686 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its position in Novartis by 40.1% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after buying an additional 590,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE NVS traded up $0.32 on Wednesday, hitting $117.45. 391,711 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,435,098. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $117.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $240.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.44 EPS for the current 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.