Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 332,682 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,073 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $42,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in Novartis by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after purchasing an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 27.7% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,305,000 after buying an additional 14,032 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $266,000. Cypress Capital Group grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 84.1% in the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 306.6% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 13,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE NVS opened at $141.87 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $299.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $97.39 and a 12 month high of $143.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $132.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.72.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NVS. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America raised shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.