EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,196 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,052 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,196 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Novartis by 480.0% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.67.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $104.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $108.78. The firm has a market cap of $214.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average is $100.03 and its 200-day moving average is $100.68.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.27 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.