Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Key Points

• Boston Partners reduced its stake in Novartis AG by 22.3%, selling 11,876 shares, leaving it with a total of 41,483 shares worth $4.62 million.
• Novartis reported $2.42 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing the analyst estimate of $2.38, with quarterly revenue up 12.3% year-over-year.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from "underweight" to "equal weight," setting a target price of $123.00 for the stock, which currently has a consensus rating of "Hold."

Boston Partners lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 22.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,483 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,876 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners' holdings in Novartis were worth $4,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $124.20 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $124.83. The firm has a market cap of $262.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.74 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. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $118.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.04.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.

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