D.B. Root & Company LLC Sells 153 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

D.B. Root & Company LLC cut its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,902 shares of the company’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 16.7% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,482,000 after buying an additional 4,897 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $509,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in Novartis by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 3,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in Novartis by 92.4% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter worth $261,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.67.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $106.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $217.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.22 and a 200-day moving average of $101.22. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current 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.