Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Has $51.55 Million Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 128.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 528,682 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $51,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 15.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after buying an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after buying an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,986,000 after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 18.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after buying an additional 123,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 4.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,676,000 after buying an additional 13,486 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock opened at $105.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.41. 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 cap of $215.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.79% and a net margin of 23.56%. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NVS. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

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.