Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Dodge & Cox

Dodge & Cox reduced its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,647,629 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,170,473 shares during the quarter. Dodge & Cox’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,288,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 66.0% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on NVS shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.33.

Novartis Stock Down 1.0%

NVS opened at $132.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $134.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.18.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis 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.