Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 154 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,084 shares of the company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth $15,044,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 33.3% during the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,938,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $854,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,797,000 after purchasing an additional 124,111 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NVS. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $105.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis 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.