Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Mmbg Investment Advisors CO.

Mmbg Investment Advisors CO. decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 30.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,492 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,510 shares during the period. Mmbg Investment Advisors CO.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Novartis by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,372,000 after acquiring an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,706,000 after buying an additional 368,171 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,522,000 after acquiring an additional 399,862 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,908,000 after buying an additional 296,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,161,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,990,000 after purchasing an additional 52,044 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $108.68 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $110.25 and its 200 day moving average is $105.84. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. Novartis’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 40.47%.

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.