Brookstone Capital Management Sells 145 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Brookstone Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,775 shares of the company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NVS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $848,000. Beacon Financial Group boosted its position in Novartis by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 23,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $314,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,264,000 after acquiring an additional 54,683 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $116.24 on Friday. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.