Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC Has $1.67 Million Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC has sold 84,674 shares of Novartis AG, reducing its stake by 85% in the first quarter, leaving it with 14,940 shares valued at approximately $1.67 million.
• Analysts currently maintain a consensus rating of "Hold" for Novartis, with price target estimates averaging around $123.50, following mixed ratings from different analysts.
• Novartis reported a 12.3% year-over-year revenue increase, reaching $14.05 billion for the last quarter, and earnings per share of $2.42, beating analyst estimates.

Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 85.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,940 shares of the company's stock after selling 84,674 shares during the quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $1,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE NVS traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $126.41. 761,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,931,535. The company's 50 day moving average price is $120.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.62. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $128.03.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.50.

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.