Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,435 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 14.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,405 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,435 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $266,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Novartis by 16.8% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $1,909,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 10.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 33,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 9.0% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Saturday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

Novartis Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $132.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $279.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.22. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $133.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

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.