Community Financial Services Group LLC Has $6.23 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,188 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the quarter. Novartis comprises about 1.3% of Community Financial Services Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Community Financial Services Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $6,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Novartis by 1.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,127,000 after buying an additional 6,767 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 6.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after purchasing an additional 11,080 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $2,968,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.70.

Novartis Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Novartis stock traded down $1.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $115.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 646,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,341,178. The stock has a market cap of $236.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $116.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal 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.