Freedom Investment Management Inc. Cuts Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 17.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,555 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 28.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 115,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,207,000 after buying an additional 3,696 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the first quarter worth approximately $279,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 8.6% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 48,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,688,000 after buying an additional 3,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 389.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 106,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,305,000 after buying an additional 84,777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 1.0 %

NVS opened at $104.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $214.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.16.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current 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.