Novartis AG $NVS Position Reduced by Hanson & Doremus Investment Management

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lowered its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 86.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 625 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,903 shares during the quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 60.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,071,000 after buying an additional 1,377,252 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.2% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,180,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,058,000 after buying an additional 47,690 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 12,664.1% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,204,000 after buying an additional 1,372,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,262,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,770,000 after acquiring an additional 3,805 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Up 0.4%

NVS stock opened at $124.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $262.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.63. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $130.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.