Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 4,419 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC cut its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,701 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,419 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $13,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Novartis by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,742 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth $266,000. Cypress Capital Group increased its position in shares of Novartis by 84.1% in the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. raised its stake in Novartis by 306.6% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 13,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Novartis by 16.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $138.50 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $131.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.51. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $97.18 and a fifty-two week high of $140.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The company had revenue of $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.