Visionary Horizons LLC Trims Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Visionary Horizons LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,305 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Visionary Horizons LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 480.0% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $107.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.42 and a 200 day moving average of $101.05. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $108.78. 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 (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The company had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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 company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.67.

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.