Cadence Bank Cuts Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Cadence Bank decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,686 shares of the company’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Novartis were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS traded up $0.37 on Friday, reaching $110.30. 858,848 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,480,493. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $112.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $225.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.33.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.13.

About Novartis

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.