Broderick Brian C Cuts Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Broderick Brian C decreased its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 47.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,273 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,800 shares during the quarter. Broderick Brian C's holdings in Novartis were worth $476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS traded down $0.44 on Wednesday, hitting $115.97. 1,004,533 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,577,306. The business's fifty day moving average is $112.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.27. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. Novartis's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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.