Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC Has $11.34 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 116,489 shares of the company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $11,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Novartis by 343.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after purchasing an additional 509,567 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 15.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,225,000 after acquiring an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $24,096,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth about $21,078,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $98.17 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.88.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.