Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 313 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Trust Co. of Vermont trimmed its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 313 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after buying an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 6.5% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after buying an additional 11,080 shares during the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth about $2,968,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $116.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $238.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $116.20 and a 200-day moving average of $107.75. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

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.