Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 7,076 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 216,679 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,076 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $23,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,264,000 after purchasing an additional 54,683 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,473,000 after acquiring an additional 16,015 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,523,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,082,000 after acquiring an additional 14,686 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 40.1% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after acquiring an additional 590,830 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $120.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $247.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.13.

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.