Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,469,568 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,997 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Novartis worth $284,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,485,000 after acquiring an additional 11,080 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $854,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $107.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $115.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.55. The company has a market capitalization of $218.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

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.