Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 487,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,942 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $56,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVS. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 149.3% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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 reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Down 0.7 %

Novartis stock opened at $103.54 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $111.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.22.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.