NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 284,568 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

NewEdge Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 73.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 105,157 shares of the company’s stock after selling 284,568 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $11,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,485,000 after acquiring an additional 11,080 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 33.3% during the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 314.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 41,815 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $115.03 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $235.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.18. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

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.