Davidson Trust Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Davidson Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 52.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,137 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,771 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $121.90. The company had a trading volume of 955,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,587,165. The company has a market capitalization of $257.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $124.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $115.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion for 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 company posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.67.

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.