Narus Financial Partners LLC Sells 265 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Narus Financial Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 11.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in Novartis by 366.0% in 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 last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.67.

Novartis Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NVS opened at $123.80 on Thursday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $124.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $261.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $115.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.42.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a return on equity of 39.44% and a net margin of 24.70%. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. Novartis’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.