Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by State Street Corp

Key Points

• State Street Corp. slashed its Novartis stake by 96.3% in the second quarter, selling 1.34 million shares and retaining 50,661 shares valued at approximately $8.0 million.
• Other institutional investors increased their positions, and institutional investors collectively own 13.12% of Novartis stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with six Buy ratings and ten Hold ratings, resulting in a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $153. Novartis shares opened at $145.49.

State Street Corp cut its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 96.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,661 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,335,231 shares during the period. State Street Corp's holdings in Novartis were worth $8,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,962,794 shares of the company's stock worth $758,067,000 after purchasing an additional 413,778 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Novartis by 13,687.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company's stock worth $638,103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,594,726 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $617,562,000 after buying an additional 419,988 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,275,938 shares of the company's stock worth $347,649,000 after buying an additional 41,520 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,080,796 shares of the company's stock worth $286,879,000 after acquiring an additional 10,419 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 brokerages have recently weighed in on NVS. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Novartis in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued a "sector perform" rating on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. HSBC upgraded shares of Novartis from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $123.00 to $136.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $153.00.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $145.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $277.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.45. Novartis AG has a one year low of $121.57 and a one year high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company's fifty day moving average price is $151.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.34.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis AG NYSE: NVS is a Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative medicines. The company's portfolio addresses major disease areas including cardiovascular, renal and metabolic conditions, immunology, neuroscience, oncology and hematology.

Novartis markets medicines such as Entresto for certain heart conditions, Cosentyx for inflammatory diseases, Kisqali for breast cancer, Kesimpta for multiple sclerosis, Leqvio for cholesterol management, Pluvicto for certain prostate cancers and Scemblix for chronic myeloid leukemia.

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