Thomasville National Bank Decreases Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Thomasville National Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 544 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Novartis were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Private Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

Novartis Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE NVS opened at $116.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $115.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.49. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $237.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.