Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by CNB Bank

CNB Bank reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,335 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,026 shares during the period. CNB Bank’s holdings in Novartis were worth $404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Wall Street Zen raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.33.

Novartis Trading Down 0.9%

Novartis stock opened at $130.48 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $133.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $127.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.37. The stock has a market cap of $275.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.64.

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.