Liberty One Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Liberty One Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 173 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Novartis by 15.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after buying an additional 70,314 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,986,000 after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Novartis by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after buying an additional 123,077 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $64,610,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $97.51 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $199.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.99. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

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.