Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Decreases Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 164,853 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,449 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $18,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% during the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $29,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Up 1.2 %

NVS traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $116.22. 1,095,960 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,359,491. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

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.