Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 63,073 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,503 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $6,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 2.4 %

NVS stock opened at $115.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $236.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.02. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research 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.