John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 139,390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,076 shares during the quarter. Novartis accounts for 2.0% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $13,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Novartis by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 248,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,186,000 after purchasing an additional 5,913 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,908,000 after purchasing an additional 296,950 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at about $869,000. Motco increased its position in shares of Novartis by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 6,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Novartis by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE NVS opened at $109.06 on Friday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.04. The stock has a market cap of $222.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.