Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 711,245 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,388 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp's holdings in Novartis were worth $69,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 0.4 %

NVS stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $111.85. 1,770,048 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,074,565. The company has a market cap of $228.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. 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 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $103.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.98.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.