UMB Bank n.a. Has $722,000 Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

UMB Bank n.a. cut its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,419 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,823 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Novartis by 115.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,797,000 after acquiring an additional 124,111 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Novartis by 343.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,652,000 after purchasing an additional 509,567 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after buying an additional 5,164 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 135.5% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,598,000 after buying an additional 22,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 13.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 157,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,088,000 after acquiring an additional 18,990 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $99.69 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $203.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.94.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.