Naples Global Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Naples Global Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,835 shares of the company’s stock after selling 399 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 12,664.1% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,407 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Novartis by 5.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the first quarter valued at approximately $24,763,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 38.5% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 310,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,560,000 after purchasing an additional 86,351 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $131.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $123.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.91. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $131.96. The company has a market cap of $277.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.64.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

About Novartis

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.