Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 4,711 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV decreased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,711 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 16,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $154.70 on Friday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $112.34 and a 12-month high of $170.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $295.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on NVS. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

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.