Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC

Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,730 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Novartis accounts for 1.0% of Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after acquiring an additional 6,767 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth $15,044,000. Integral Health Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $854,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 115.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 231,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,797,000 after buying an additional 124,111 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One 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 price target of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $103.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $210.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.05. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.63 EPS for the current 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.