Van ECK Associates Corp Has $99.29 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 29.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 633,523 shares of the company’s stock after selling 258,280 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Novartis were worth $99,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $1,731,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $196,000. North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $965,000. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,067,000. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,021,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $153.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.78. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $121.57 and a 52-week high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $14.95 billion for the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. Equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

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.