Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Holdings Lessened by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 8.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,277 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.4% in the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 3.4% in the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $104.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.12. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $213.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current 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.