Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 14,073 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,156 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,073 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc's holdings in Novartis were worth $7,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in shares of Novartis by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company's stock worth $5,975,000 after purchasing an additional 5,742 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Cypress Capital Group grew its position in Novartis by 84.1% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company's stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Novartis by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company's stock worth $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 33,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,758 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Up 2.6%

NVS stock opened at $132.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.05. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $134.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60.

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Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The company had revenue of $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share. Novartis's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised shares of Novartis from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut shares of Novartis to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.33.

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Get Our Latest Report on NVS

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.

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