Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Cuts Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,243 shares of the company’s stock after selling 216 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 0.9%

Novartis stock opened at $130.31 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $133.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.16. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $275.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.