New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $11.32 Million Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,525 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,153 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Novartis were worth $11,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 165,442 shares of the company's stock worth $16,099,000 after buying an additional 8,186 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 151.5% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 4,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $114.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $116.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.43. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $124.83. The company has a market cap of $241.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.59.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 41.09% and a net margin of 25.64%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.67.

Novartis 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.

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