B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 2,783 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,769 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,783 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "underweight" rating for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:NVS traded up $0.60 on Thursday, hitting $112.47. 1,111,331 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,588,249. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $109.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.97. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $237.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.