Davidson Trust Co. Sells 5,771 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Davidson Trust Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 52.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,137 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,771 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $88,339,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 14,376.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,079,000 after purchasing an additional 722,272 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,522,000 after buying an additional 399,862 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased 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 valued at $259,706,000 after buying an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:NVS opened at $121.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $124.45. The company has a market cap of $257.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $114.89 and a 200-day moving average of $108.74.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 24.70%. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Novartis 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.