Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 503.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Performance

Novartis stock opened at $103.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $210.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.05. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.