Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Position Reduced by Callan Capital LLC

Callan Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,319 shares of the company’s stock after selling 950 shares during the quarter. Callan Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 128.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,554,000 after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth approximately $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 15.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth approximately $24,096,000. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,795,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NVS shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. 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, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $109.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.15. The company has a market cap of $223.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. 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 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, sell-side analysts expect 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.