Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Kennon Green & Company LLC

Kennon Green & Company LLC decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,191 shares of the company’s stock after selling 197 shares during the quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Novartis by 128.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,554,000 after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,096,000. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $19,795,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $109.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

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.