Novartis AG $NVS Shares Sold by Ramirez Asset Management Inc.

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Novartis by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after buying an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,909,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 33,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,710,000 after buying an additional 3,126 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 33,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,076,000 after buying an additional 2,758 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 1.0%

Novartis stock opened at $131.04 on Friday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $133.55. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The company’s revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.33.

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.