Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 17.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 330,621 shares of the company’s stock after selling 68,710 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $40,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Novartis by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 60.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Novartis by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,180,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,058,000 after purchasing an additional 47,690 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 12,664.1% during the 1st quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,262,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,770,000 after acquiring an additional 3,805 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $131.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $277.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $127.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.89. 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 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $133.55.

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.