Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 2,988 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,932 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,988 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $6,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,127,000 after buying an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth about $15,044,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,938,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $854,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Novartis by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,797,000 after purchasing an additional 124,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $103.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.22. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $211.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

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.