Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 88,654 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio has reduced its holdings in Novartis AG by 90.1%, selling 88,654 shares and retaining only 9,700 shares worth approximately $1,174,000.
• Analyst ratings for Novartis show a mix of opinions with a majority holding a "Hold" rating, while Goldman Sachs recently downgraded its price target to $118.00.
• Novartis reported a quarterly earnings of $2.42 per share, exceeding analyst expectations and achieving a revenue of $14.05 billion, indicating a 12.3% year-over-year increase.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 90.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,700 shares of the company's stock after selling 88,654 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Novartis were worth $1,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Tsfg LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 366.0% in 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. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 66.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the first quarter worth about $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NVS. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated 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, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. 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, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $132.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.22. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $133.37.

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