Tower Bridge Advisors Sells 2,033 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Tower Bridge Advisors reduced its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,303 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,033 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $7,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Novartis by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,668,000 after buying an additional 18,894 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Novartis by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,001,000 after buying an additional 5,164 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Novartis by 135.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,598,000 after buying an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Novartis by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 157,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,088,000 after buying an additional 18,990 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $109.06 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $222.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on NVS. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

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.