Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Has $1.10 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,327 shares of the company’s stock after selling 557 shares during the quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,669,000 after acquiring an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 2.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,986,000 after acquiring an additional 26,317 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Novartis by 18.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 780,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,289,000 after acquiring an additional 123,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in Novartis by 4.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 344,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,676,000 after acquiring an additional 13,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NVS. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $98.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $100.34 and a 200-day moving average of $108.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.