Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in Novartis AG by 15.3% during the first quarter, leaving it with 214,596 shares valued at approximately $23.9 million.
• Novartis reported $2.42 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.38, with revenues of $14.05 billion, a 12.3% year-over-year increase.
• Analysts have set an average price target of $123.67 for Novartis, with varying ratings from strong buy to sell among different equity research firms.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,596 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,871 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $23,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 980 shares of the company's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Haven Private LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 5.1% in the first quarter. Haven Private LLC now owns 3,088 shares of the company's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co boosted its stake in Novartis by 3.5% during the first quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 36,857 shares of the company's stock worth $4,109,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 8.0% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 62,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,959,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 220,179 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,546,000 after acquiring an additional 7,791 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NVS traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $116.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,585,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,011,046. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $118.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.27. The company has a market cap of $246.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.62. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $124.83.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.97 EPS. Novartis's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current 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.