Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases 124,111 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 115.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 231,792 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 124,111 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $26,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at about $64,610,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in shares of Novartis by 40.1% during the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after buying an additional 590,830 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NVS opened at $113.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $232.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Novartis 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.