Tower Bridge Advisors Has $7.72 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Tower Bridge Advisors lowered its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 79,303 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,033 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $7,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $109.06 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $102.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.07. The company has a market capitalization of $222.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.