Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 255 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,873 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Novartis by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,264,000 after acquiring an additional 54,683 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,523,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,082,000 after purchasing an additional 14,686 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in shares of Novartis by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.9 %

NVS traded up $1.04 on Friday, hitting $117.53. 127,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,401,424. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.38.

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.