PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 2,210 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lowered its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 220,827 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,210 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $25,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,044,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at about $854,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 115.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,797,000 after purchasing an additional 124,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.6 %

NVS stock opened at $103.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.10 and a 200 day moving average of $110.00. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $212.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal 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.