Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 23.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 542,297 shares of the company's stock after selling 168,948 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp's holdings in Novartis were worth $60,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position 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 buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Novartis in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Down 2.3%

NYSE:NVS traded down $2.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $120.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,754,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,640. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $124.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.75. The company has a market cap of $255.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. Novartis's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Novartis Company 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.