HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 4,988 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290,860 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,988 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $33,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 11,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Novartis by 4.3% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 6,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 90.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 45,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,239,000 after buying an additional 21,561 shares during the period. Aureus Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America lowered 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $102.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $109.69 and its 200 day moving average is $110.20. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $209.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.65 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.