SpiderRock Advisors LLC Invests $1.29 Million in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 11,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,291,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Novartis by 191.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 267,490 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $106.45 on Monday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.70. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.55 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.