Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,169 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,507 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $13,477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Novartis by 191.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,610,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company's stock worth $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $120.70.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.67 on Friday, reaching $117.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 655,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,344,618. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $116.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $239.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.