Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Sells 200 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division trimmed its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Novartis were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 60.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,252 shares during the period. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 12,664.1% during the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,407 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 14,376.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,079,000 after purchasing an additional 722,272 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Novartis by 5.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares during the period. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $24,763,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $124.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $262.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.63. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $130.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $121.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.79.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NVS. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.33.

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.