Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 330,142 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 17.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,608,589 shares of the company's stock after selling 330,142 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.08% of Novartis worth $179,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,828 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 3,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Novartis Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE:NVS traded down $2.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $120.93. 2,754,096 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,590,270. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.60. 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 AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $124.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. The company 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share 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.