Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Cuts Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,835 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 15.7% in 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in 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 grew its holdings in Novartis by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,986,000 after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after purchasing an additional 123,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,676,000 after purchasing an additional 13,486 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $100.00 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. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The business 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently 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.