NewEdge Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Novartis AG by 10.7% during Q1, now owning 77,088 shares worth approximately $8.59 million.
• Multiple analysts have issued mixed ratings on Novartis, with Morgan Stanley upgrading it to "equal weight" and setting a price target of $123.00.
• Novartis reported impressive quarterly earnings with a revenue of $14.05 billion and an EPS of $2.42, exceeding analyst expectations.

NewEdge Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,088 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,219 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $8,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new position in Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, 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 note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Novartis Trading Down 2.8%

NVS traded down $3.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $124.12. 1,861,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 997,220. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $121.72 and a 200 day moving average of $115.73. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $130.46.

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