Boston Common Asset Management LLC Sells 14,347 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Boston Common Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 124,236 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,347 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $15,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in Novartis by 13.2% in the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after buying an additional 5,742 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,305,000 after acquiring an additional 14,032 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 306.6% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 13,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Finally, Cypress Capital Group boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 84.1% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $145.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $135.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.31. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $97.71 and a twelve month high of $146.35.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The business had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.