Scharf Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Scharf Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,364,854 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,866 shares during the period. Novartis accounts for 3.6% of Scharf Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Scharf Investments LLC owned about 0.06% of Novartis worth $132,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Novartis by 16.7% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,183 shares of the company's stock worth $3,482,000 after acquiring an additional 4,897 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,221,589 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,431,000 after purchasing an additional 36,269 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 21.7% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,617 shares of the company's stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 1.4% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 330,042 shares of the company's stock worth $33,618,000 after buying an additional 4,510 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NVS. Barclays raised Novartis to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.67.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $106.57. 1,268,659 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,475,179. The stock has a market cap of $217.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock's 50-day moving average is $101.70 and its 200 day moving average is $101.09. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Novartis 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.

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