Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 1,163 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Ritholtz Wealth Management decreased its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 91,310 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,163 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $10,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Novartis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,372,000 after buying an additional 90,823 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Novartis by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,706,000 after buying an additional 368,171 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Novartis by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,522,000 after buying an additional 399,862 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,908,000 after buying an additional 296,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $109,739,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 1.2%

Novartis stock opened at $119.34 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.10. The company has a market cap of $252.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. Analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.