Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,426,926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,642 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Novartis worth $236,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,990,000 after acquiring an additional 52,044 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.9% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Novartis by 18.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,289,000 after purchasing an additional 123,077 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $105.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $215.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.04. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92.

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

About Novartis

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.