Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,071 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 41,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 8,116 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 314.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 41,815 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $111.17. 301,178 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,467,929. 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 capitalization of $227.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.31. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $112.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.