Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 1,374 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Wambolt & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,647 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,374 shares during the quarter. Novartis makes up about 1.1% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keybank National Association OH raised 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 during the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Cypress Capital Group raised its holdings in Novartis by 84.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 16.8% in the 1st 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. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,909,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Cfra set a $126.00 target price on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. One investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.33.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $130.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $127.84 and its 200-day moving average is $122.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $134.00.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.