Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 4,046 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,121 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,046 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $23,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in Novartis by 13.2% in the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $266,000. Cypress Capital Group increased its stake in Novartis by 84.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Novartis by 16.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after buying an additional 6,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at $1,909,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $132.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $279.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.20 and a 200-day moving average of $123.41. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $134.24.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The business had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday. Cfra Research raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.33.

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.