Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 137,407 shares of the company’s stock after selling 716 shares during the period. Novartis makes up approximately 2.5% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $16,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC raised its position in Novartis by 366.0% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Novartis by 66.0% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on NVS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $131.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $277.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $133.55. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

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.