Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Physicians Financial Services Inc.

by · The Markets Daily

Physicians Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS – Free Report) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 45.8% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Novartis by 5.1% in the third quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 2,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 2.0% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 11,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth about $388,000. Finally, Spinnaker Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NVS. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on NVS

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 130,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,338,778. The company has a market cap of $217.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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