Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Cuts Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• Douglas Lane & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Novartis AG by 2.5%, resulting in 165,271 shares valued at approximately $19.99 million.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Novartis, with ratings ranging from "strong buy" to "sell," and an average target price set at $120.33.
• Novartis reported earnings of $2.42 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.3%.

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,271 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,204 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $19,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.4% in the first quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 4,438 shares of the company's stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.9% in the first quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.8% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,828 shares of the company's stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.5% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,495 shares of the company's stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $120.33.

Novartis Trading Down 2.8%

Novartis stock opened at $124.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $130.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.63. The business's fifty day moving average is $121.72 and its 200 day moving average is $115.79.

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

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