Grove Bank & Trust Lowers Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Grove Bank & Trust cut its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Novartis were worth $102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 343.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,652,000 after buying an additional 509,567 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after buying an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $24,096,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $21,078,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $97.51 on Tuesday. 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 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $199.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.01.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

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.