Compass Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,625 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Compass Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,625 shares during the quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the third quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 280.5% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 704 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $99.93 on Friday. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.09 and a 200-day moving average of $108.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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.