Arlington Partners LLC Has $3.03 Million Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Arlington Partners LLC reduced its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,152 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,404 shares during the period. Arlington Partners LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $3,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 503.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NVS. HSBC lowered Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $106.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,664,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,983,406. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.39. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a PEG 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 net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 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.