Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Parkwood LLC

Key Points

• Parkwood LLC reduced its holdings in Novartis AG by 9.8%, selling 11,614 shares and bringing its total ownership to 106,377 shares worth approximately $11.86 million.
• Novartis reported earnings of $2.42 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates of $2.38, with revenue reaching $14.05 billion for the quarter, a 12.3% increase year-over-year.
• The stock's performance shows it has a market capitalization of $274.10 billion, with an average target price of $124.33 and varying ratings from analysts, including a "buy" and "hold."

Parkwood LLC reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 106,377 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,614 shares during the period. Parkwood LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $11,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 60.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock worth $408,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 12,664.1% during the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company's stock worth $154,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,407 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 14,376.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock worth $81,079,000 after purchasing an additional 722,272 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Novartis by 5.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company's stock worth $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $24,763,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS traded down $0.56 on Tuesday, hitting $128.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 991,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,024,181. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $130.46. The company has a market capitalization of $270.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $121.51 and a 200-day moving average of $115.43.

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

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.