AMG National Trust Bank Decreases Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

AMG National Trust Bank cut its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,487 shares of the company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 40.1% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after buying an additional 590,830 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 99.0% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 746,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,661,000 after buying an additional 371,590 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $32,003,000. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 31.7% in the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,112,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,436,000 after buying an additional 267,490 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $118.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $242.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.23. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $118.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.44 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.