Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Ethic Inc.

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. decreased its stake in Novartis AG by 28.2%, selling 33,752 shares during the first quarter and holding 85,921 shares valued at $9,418,000.
• Institutional investors like Dimensional Fund Advisors and Fox Run Management have increased their holdings in Novartis, while a total of 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an "underweight" to an "equal weight" rating, setting a price objective of $123.00, with the stock maintaining an average rating of "Hold."

Ethic Inc. reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,921 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,752 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $9,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE NVS traded up $1.0040 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.0140. 1,028,214 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,981,504. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $125.62.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The business's revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.50.

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.