13,386 Shares in Novartis AG $NVS Acquired by Kahn Brothers Group Inc.

Kahn Brothers Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 13,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,044,711,000. Novartis makes up 4.1% of Kahn Brothers Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,860,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,033 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,465,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,317,000 after purchasing an additional 226,484 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Novartis by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,962,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,067,000 after purchasing an additional 413,778 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Novartis by 13,687.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,594,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,562,000 after purchasing an additional 419,988 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $154.54 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $121.57 and a 52 week high of $170.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $294.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.94 and a 200-day moving average of $153.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.