Americana Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Americana Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,491 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,527 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $2,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company's stock worth $196,225,000 after acquiring an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company's stock worth $155,669,000 after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company's stock worth $112,990,000 after acquiring an additional 52,044 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company's stock worth $107,986,000 after acquiring an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Novartis by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company's stock worth $90,289,000 after acquiring an additional 123,077 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 2.0 %

NVS traded up $2.11 on Friday, hitting $109.42. 2,274,792 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,952,208. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "underweight" rating on the stock. HSBC lowered Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.