Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Buys 11,726 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. increased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 338,257 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,726 shares during the period. Novartis makes up approximately 1.9% of Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $37,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,372,000 after buying an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,706,000 after acquiring an additional 368,171 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Novartis by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,522,000 after acquiring an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,258,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,313,000 after purchasing an additional 55,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $109,739,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $117.13 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $124.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $117.79 and a 200 day moving average of $111.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.59.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

About Novartis

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.