Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Decreases Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 22.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,657 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,604 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Essex Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.9% in the second quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 4,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.8% in the second quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the second quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 5,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.7% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 14,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.2% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $131.57 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $124.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $133.55. The firm has a market cap of $277.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 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 firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current 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.