Financial Architects Inc Sells 128 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Financial Architects Inc cut its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,679 shares of the company’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Financial Architects Inc’s holdings in Novartis were worth $876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. DT Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the first quarter worth $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 750.0% in the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 49.5% in the second quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. now owns 299 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. StockNews.com started coverage on Novartis in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $94.91 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.91. The stock has a market cap of $201.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.56. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $79.98 and a 52 week high of $105.61.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 28.27% and a net margin of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $11.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

About Novartis

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets 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.