Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its stake in Novartis AG by 2.1% in the second quarter, now owning 110,120 shares worth approximately $13.56 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on Novartis, with ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Sell"; the average price target is $120.33.
• Novartis reported a quarterly EPS of $2.42, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $14.05 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 12.3%.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,120 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,349 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $13,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 66.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "sell" rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $131.46 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $126.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $133.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.