Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Checchi Capital Advisers LLC

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC reduced its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,312 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NVS. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Allen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 12,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 16,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVS. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $109.73 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.08. 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 $224.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted 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 net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.