John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 179,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,713 shares during the period. Novartis makes up 2.7% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $17,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Private Ocean LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in Novartis by 480.0% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $110.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,997,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,404. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $111.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $104.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $225.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The firm had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.50 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.