Adero Partners LLC Sells 240 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Adero Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,567 shares of the company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $106.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.42. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.79% and a net margin of 23.56%. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.34 EPS for the current fiscal 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.