Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Holdings Decreased by BSW Wealth Partners

BSW Wealth Partners cut its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 49.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,569 shares during the quarter. BSW Wealth Partners' holdings in Novartis were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Novartis Trading Up 0.8%

NVS traded up $0.92 during trading on Monday, hitting $120.93. 214,459 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,022,046. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $113.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.21. The firm has a market cap of $255.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 24.70%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.