Eastern Bank Sells 81,194 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Key Points

• Eastern Bank significantly decreased its stake in Novartis AG by 87.7%, now holding only 11,372 shares as of the most recent quarter.
• Novartis reported a quarterly revenue of $14.05 billion, exceeding estimates, with an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.42, beating the consensus estimate by $0.04.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Novartis, with an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Eastern Bank decreased its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 87.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,372 shares of the company's stock after selling 81,194 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank's holdings in Novartis were worth $1,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Novartis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company's stock worth $796,372,000 after acquiring an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock worth $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC grew its position in Novartis by 4.6% during the first quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,258,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,313,000 after purchasing an additional 55,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $109,739,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of 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 issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Novartis Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded up $2.07 on Monday, reaching $117.37. The company had a trading volume of 1,378,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,015,200. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $117.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.83. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $124.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $1.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Company 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.