Blair William & Co. IL Sells 10,415 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,415 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Novartis were worth $8,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $266,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Novartis by 16.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after buying an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,909,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 10.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 33,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 8.9% in the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 33,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE NVS opened at $130.05 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $125.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.91. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $133.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

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.