Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,393,019 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,907 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Novartis worth $266,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Novartis by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 423,142 shares of the company's stock worth $41,176,000 after purchasing an additional 111,066 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 165,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,099,000 after purchasing an additional 8,186 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,365,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 9.0% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.67.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS traded down $1.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $121.90. The stock had a trading volume of 955,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,587,165. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59. The company's 50-day moving average price is $115.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.98. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $124.45.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. Novartis's revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.