Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Cascade Financial Partners LLC

Cascade Financial Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,080 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 38,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,303,000 after buying an additional 3,846 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 856.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 6,722 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $124.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $124.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $118.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.04. The firm has a market cap of $262.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.50.

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.