Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Sells 400 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,573 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $153,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 257.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 6,990 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,449,000 after buying an additional 3,372 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Novartis by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 4.3% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 6,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $105.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.14 and a 200-day moving average of $108.41. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $215.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.