Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Highland Capital Management LLC

Highland Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,462 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter worth approximately $266,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Novartis by 16.8% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,909,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 33,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $132.41 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $279.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $133.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.24.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.