Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by AMG National Trust Bank

AMG National Trust Bank trimmed its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,991 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,496 shares during the quarter. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,044,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth approximately $854,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Novartis by 115.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,797,000 after buying an additional 124,111 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $103.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.05.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.