First Trust Advisors LP Sells 5,202 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 366,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,202 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Novartis were worth $55,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Novartis by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,223,860,000 after buying an additional 1,148,033 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,465,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,317,000 after acquiring an additional 226,484 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 13,687.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,594,726 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,605,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,658,000 after acquiring an additional 78,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,562,000 after purchasing an additional 419,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $154.84 on Monday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $112.34 and a 1 year high of $170.46. The company has a market cap of $295.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $151.95 and its 200 day moving average is $152.23.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.56% and a net margin of 23.29%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.77 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.