Arlington Partners LLC Sells 6,404 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Arlington Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,152 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,404 shares during the period. Arlington Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after purchasing an additional 70,314 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,986,000 after purchasing an additional 26,317 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after purchasing an additional 123,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 128.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,554,000 after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $106.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $217.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

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.