Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Merrion Investment Management Co LLC

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC lowered its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $115.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.33. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 24.70%. Novartis’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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.