Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Cannell & Co.

Cannell & Co. decreased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veritable L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 4,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth $126,000. Spotlight Asset Group Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth $101,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.2% in the second quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 8,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 12,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the period. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $94.91 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.91. The company has a market cap of $201.17 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.56. Novartis AG has a one year low of $79.98 and a one year high of $105.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $11.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.05 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 28.27%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Profile

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.