Kathmere Capital Management LLC Sells 4,816 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Kathmere Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 27.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,954 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,816 shares during the quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,225,000 after acquiring an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,669,000 after purchasing an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $107,986,000 after purchasing an additional 26,317 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $64,610,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $99.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.19. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $203.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.