Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Sells 454 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC decreased its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 454 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,668,000 after acquiring an additional 18,894 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Novartis by 115.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,797,000 after purchasing an additional 124,111 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after purchasing an additional 5,164 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Novartis by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 39,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,598,000 after buying an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $106.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.35. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.