D.A. Davidson & CO. Decreases Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 464,582 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,558 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $45,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 503.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $105.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $215.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

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.