Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Sells 190 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,977 shares of the company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $679,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after purchasing an additional 70,314 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,986,000 after purchasing an additional 26,317 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Novartis by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after purchasing an additional 123,077 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Novartis by 128.1% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,554,000 after purchasing an additional 296,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NVS opened at $105.43 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.33. The stock has a market cap of $215.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis 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.