CIBC Asset Management Inc Sells 5,194 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

CIBC Asset Management Inc cut its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,194 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter worth $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 149.3% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $103.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $112.58 and a 200-day moving average of $110.10. The stock has a market cap of $211.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share 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.