Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 1,324 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,324 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.8% in the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in Novartis by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 2.3% in the third quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $105.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $215.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.41. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.79%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.34 earnings per share 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.