Quadrant Capital Group LLC Has $6.95 Million Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Quadrant Capital Group LLC cut its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,432 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,545 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $6,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Novartis by 13.2% during the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,742 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Cypress Capital Group raised its position in Novartis by 84.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Novartis by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 6,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $1,909,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $130.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $96.06 and a 52-week high of $134.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.30.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The firm had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NVS. Cfra Research raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. HC Wainwright lowered Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.33.

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.