OLD National Bancorp IN Sells 3,814 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

OLD National Bancorp IN reduced its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 26.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,443 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,814 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN's holdings in Novartis were worth $1,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company's stock worth $796,372,000 after purchasing an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,706,000 after acquiring an additional 368,171 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,522,000 after acquiring an additional 399,862 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company's stock valued at $194,908,000 after acquiring an additional 296,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its position in Novartis by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,990,000 after purchasing an additional 52,044 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock traded down $1.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $119.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,276,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,583,414. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $111.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The business had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on NVS shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded 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 assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.38.

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.