State Street Corp Sells 58,665 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

State Street Corp lowered its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,695,309 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,665 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 0.08% of Novartis worth $194,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company's stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Essex LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Essex LLC now owns 2,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Novartis Stock Down 0.2 %

Novartis stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,233,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,205. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $108.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC lowered Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.