Cambiar Investors LLC Decreases Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Cambiar Investors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Novartis AG by 96.6% during the first quarter, now holding only 4,113 shares worth $459,000.
• Several institutional investors are actively adjusting their positions, with Cresset Asset Management LLC increasing its stake by 209.5% and owning 113,833 shares valued at $13.1 million post-investment.
• Novartis shares are currently receiving mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price set at $123.50.

Cambiar Investors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 96.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,113 shares of the company's stock after selling 117,862 shares during the quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 209.5% in the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 113,833 shares of the company's stock worth $13,132,000 after purchasing an additional 77,048 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 2,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Novartis by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company's stock valued at $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 29,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Novartis by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 17,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded up $0.1210 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $126.9410. The company had a trading volume of 1,339,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,553,184. The company's 50 day moving average price is $119.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $268.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.62. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $128.03.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.