Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,525 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,280 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $3,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $88,339,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 14,376.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock worth $81,079,000 after buying an additional 722,272 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company's stock worth $207,522,000 after buying an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company's stock worth $259,706,000 after buying an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $119.34. 1,276,426 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,583,414. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company's 50 day moving average price is $111.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.09.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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