Dunhill Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Dunhill Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 30.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $51,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NVS stock opened at $116.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $245.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.27.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued 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. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

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.