Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Position Decreased by Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 448 shares during the period. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $64,610,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Novartis by 343.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after acquiring an additional 509,567 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Novartis by 10,528.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,511,000 after purchasing an additional 321,121 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth $30,063,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $99.34 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $203.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $101.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.19.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.