Capital Advisors Inc. OK Decreases Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,898 shares of the company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK’s holdings in Novartis were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $109.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $223.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NVS. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.