Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,558 shares of the company’s stock after selling 338 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp VA ADV increased its position in shares of Novartis by 172.2% in the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Novartis Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $128.18 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $130.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $270.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $122.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.81.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.