Sigma Planning Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 54.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,071 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Novartis were worth $703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 102.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after acquiring an additional 11,444 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 48.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $145.48 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $104.93 and a one year high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $277.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $153.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.08.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.