Appleton Partners Inc. MA Trims Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 11.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 299 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Novartis were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 41,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 8,116 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Novartis by 314.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 41,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 368.3% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15,927 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.67.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $104.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $214.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $108.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The company had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.50 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.27 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.