Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 809 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Valley National Advisers Inc. cut its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 809 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 66.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $132.41 on Monday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $133.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $123.57 and a 200 day moving average of $117.24.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Saturday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

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.