Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Stock Position Cut by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $3,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 191.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in Novartis by 40.1% during the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 99.0% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 746,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,661,000 after buying an additional 371,590 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:NVS opened at $115.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $236.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $113.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.21.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded 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, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

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.