Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Position Trimmed by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,974 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,879 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $15,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Integral Health Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Novartis by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,797,000 after buying an additional 124,111 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 343.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,652,000 after acquiring an additional 509,567 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,001,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Novartis by 135.5% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company's stock worth $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 22,998 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock traded up $1.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $100.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,818,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,409,151. The firm has a market cap of $204.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $101.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.50.

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.