Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $4.41 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 45,297 shares of the company’s stock after selling 466 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $106.17 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month 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 market capitalization of $217.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.39.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 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%. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.