D.A. Davidson & CO. Cuts Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 464,582 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,558 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $45,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Novartis by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 771,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,090,000 after purchasing an additional 27,092 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,530,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Services raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 7,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NVS opened at $105.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $100.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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. The company has a market cap of $215.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal 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.