Colonial Trust Advisors Reduces Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Colonial Trust Advisors lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,001 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,275 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 19.6% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 6,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 8.6% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 17,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after buying an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 465,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,949,000 after acquiring an additional 15,776 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Novartis by 14.5% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 101,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,268,000 after purchasing an additional 12,821 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NVS. Bank of America raised Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, October 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.33.

Novartis Trading Down 0.2%

Novartis stock opened at $130.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $134.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.51. The stock has a market cap of $275.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.