D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Position in Novartis AG $NVS

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 23.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 163,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,798 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $25,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Novartis by 13,687.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,103,000 after buying an additional 4,594,726 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the first quarter valued at $220,004,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Novartis by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,860,000 after buying an additional 1,148,033 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,158,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,414,000 after acquiring an additional 895,255 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $108,638,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock opened at $151.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $153.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $288.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $121.57 and a 1 year high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. The business had revenue of $14.95 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

Novartis Company 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.