Penbrook Management LLC Reduces Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Penbrook Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Penbrook Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 60.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 12,664.1% during the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,407 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Novartis by 5.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis during the first quarter valued at $24,763,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Novartis by 38.5% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 310,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,560,000 after purchasing an additional 86,351 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $129.31 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $273.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $133.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $125.37 and its 200 day moving average is $118.07.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated 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 issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

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.