Financial Advocates Investment Management Decreases Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Financial Advocates Investment Management decreased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 621 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NVS. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $120.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $246.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $120.80.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.44 EPS for the current 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.