Dodge & Cox Lowers Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox reduced its stake in Novartis AG by 3.2% to approximately $1.32 billion, after selling 396,563 shares in the first quarter.
• Novartis reported a 12.3% year-over-year revenue increase to $14.05 billion and exceeded earnings per share estimates in its latest quarterly results.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Novartis, with an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.50 per share.

Dodge & Cox lowered its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,818,102 shares of the company's stock after selling 396,563 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 0.56% of Novartis worth $1,317,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Novartis by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Novartis by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,586 shares of the company's stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 10,877.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 221,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Up 0.1%

NVS stock opened at $126.9410 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $128.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.71. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $268.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.

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