Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Sells 189 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,613 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Novartis by 1,345.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 7,480 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 33,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,368,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 9,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 3,997 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $115.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $235.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $113.25 and its 200 day moving average is $104.81. 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 $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.