Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Sells 6,879 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,879 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $15,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 4.8% during the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors increased its holdings in Novartis by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.3% in the third quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allen Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.8% in the third quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 1.3 %

NVS opened at $100.24 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $101.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $204.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current 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.