Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by BSW Wealth Partners

BSW Wealth Partners trimmed its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 114 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Novartis were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Essex Savings Bank increased its stake in Novartis by 1.9% during the second quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 4,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 1.7% during the second quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 5,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 1.2% in the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $983,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its stake in Novartis by 4.1% in the second quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 2,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $130.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $131.96. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $123.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.04. The company has a market capitalization of $276.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.64.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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.