CIBC Asset Management Inc Decreases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

CIBC Asset Management Inc lowered its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 21.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,089 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,194 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Novartis were worth $2,178,000 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 company. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 503.8% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Novartis stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $102.71. The stock had a trading volume of 400,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,338,993. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (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 net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.63 earnings per share 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.