Great Diamond Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Great Diamond Partners LLC cut its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 38.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,066 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,269 shares during the quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Novartis by 23.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $64,610,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in Novartis by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after buying an additional 590,830 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE NVS opened at $109.89 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $224.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $116.13 and a 200 day moving average of $109.02.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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.