Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Dillon & Associates Inc.

Dillon & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 35.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,234 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,815 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 13.5% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Services raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 7,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $821,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 21.3% during the third quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $104.92 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $114.25 and a 200-day moving average of $109.83.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.56 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.