Motco Sells 171 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Motco lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 171 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in Novartis were worth $711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Essex Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Novartis by 1.9% in the second quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 4,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 5.8% in the second quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 4.4% in the second quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Novartis by 0.4% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 24,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,978,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 1.2% in the second quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 7,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.4%

NVS opened at $121.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $133.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $127.52 and its 200 day moving average is $120.01. The stock has a market cap of $257.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.64.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 42.01%. The firm had revenue of $13.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on shares of Novartis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.33.

Novartis Company Profile

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.