Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,658 shares of the company’s stock after selling 728 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 11,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,263,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the third quarter worth $388,000. Spinnaker Trust bought a new stake in Novartis during the third quarter valued at $202,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $268,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Down 2.3 %

Novartis stock opened at $106.81 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.