Cambridge Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Cambridge Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Cambridge Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,849 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $1,909,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Novartis by 10.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 33,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,710,000 after acquiring an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 20,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after acquiring an additional 3,861 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $122.34 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $130.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $122.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.43. The company has a market capitalization of $258.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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