Centiva Capital LP Lowers Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Centiva Capital LP reduced its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,098 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP’s holdings in Novartis were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Novartis by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Novartis by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,797,000 after buying an additional 124,111 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 343.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after acquiring an additional 509,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Novartis by 135.5% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $99.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $108.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.30. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $202.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Company 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.