Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY Cuts Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY trimmed its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 609,682 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,027 shares during the quarter. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY's holdings in Novartis were worth $59,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Novartis by 95.8% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Novartis by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 30,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Novartis by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,725 shares of the company's stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NVS. Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 2.7%

Novartis stock traded up $3.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $115.67. The stock had a trading volume of 2,448,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,931. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $244.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.09. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The company's revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.