Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC cut its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Novartis by 128.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,554,000 after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $196,225,000 after buying an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth about $24,096,000. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,795,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NVS opened at $109.42 on Friday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $223.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $101.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. As a group, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS 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.