Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 703 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter worth $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.4 %

NVS opened at $104.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $213.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $111.87 and its 200-day moving average is $110.20. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict 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.