GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Trims Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. reduced its stake in Novartis AG by 44.7%, selling 110,378 shares and now holding 136,418 shares valued at approximately $15.21 million.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Novartis, with ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Sell," and a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $123.50.
• For its recent quarter, Novartis reported $2.42 EPS, surpassing estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.3% to $14.05 billion.

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 44.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 136,418 shares of the company's stock after selling 110,378 shares during the quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $15,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.50.

Novartis Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NVS traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $128.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,486,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,918,919. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $129.21. The firm has a market cap of $271.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.63. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $121.06 and its 200 day moving average is $114.94.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast 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.