Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in Novartis AG by 21.4% in Q1, selling 96,946 shares, leaving them with 356,447 shares valued at approximately $39.7 million.
• In contrast, several hedge funds, including Goldman Sachs, increased their positions in Novartis, with Goldman Sachs raising its stake by 60.3% during the same period.
• Analysts have reacted positively, as Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis to an "equal weight" rating with a price target of $123.00, despite the stock's mixed ratings including a Strong Buy and Sell rating as well.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 21.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 356,447 shares of the company's stock after selling 96,946 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $39,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Up 0.1%

NVS stock traded up $0.1210 during trading on Friday, reaching $126.9410. 1,339,349 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,553,184. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $128.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.73. The company has a market capitalization of $268.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 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 (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 41.08% 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 company earned $1.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NVS. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.50.

About Novartis

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.