Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 20.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,678 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,061 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BXM Wealth LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 726.9% in the fourth quarter. BXM Wealth LLC now owns 42,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,903,000 after purchasing an additional 37,639 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Novartis by 2,561.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 38,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,375,000 after buying an additional 37,518 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Novartis by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 113,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,681,000 after buying an additional 14,352 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 401.0% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 54,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,547,000 after buying an additional 43,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,043,000 after buying an additional 3,967 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Down 0.8%

NVS stock opened at $154.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $112.34 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.13. The stock has a market cap of $295.46 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.45.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $14.95 billion during the quarter. Novartis had a net margin of 23.29% and a return on equity of 38.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.78 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.