Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 487,140 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,942 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Novartis were worth $56,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 149.3% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NVS. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $103.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,310,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,341,581. The business has a fifty day moving average of $111.60 and a 200-day moving average of $110.22. The stock has a market cap of $212.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.66 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.