Insigneo Advisory Services LLC Decreases Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Insigneo Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,480 shares of the company’s stock after selling 312 shares during the quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $64,610,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after acquiring an additional 590,830 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $115.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $236.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $114.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.80. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis 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.