Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 616 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,691 shares of the company’s stock after selling 616 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $109.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $222.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $102.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.00. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts expect 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.