Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Has $239,000 Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,454 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 6,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 7,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $303,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,001,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Novartis by 782.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NVS. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded down $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $99.07. 1,223,990 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,359,361. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $202.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.76 and a 200 day moving average of $109.32.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

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.