Greenwood Gearhart Inc. Sells 250 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Greenwood Gearhart Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE NVS opened at $101.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $207.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.56. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $109.15 and a 200-day moving average of $110.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The company 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis 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.