Abel Hall LLC Cuts Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Abel Hall LLC cut its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 11.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,183 shares of the company’s stock after selling 531 shares during the quarter. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 366.0% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 66.0% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 82.4% during the second quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $131.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.48. The stock has a market cap of $277.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $133.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis 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.