Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 838,382 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,636 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $115,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Roundview Capital LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors grew its holdings in Novartis by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 16,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. South Plains Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 39.0% during the third quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 271 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 8,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on NVS shares. Argus raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $143.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $273.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $149.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $112.34 and a 12-month high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.