Arjuna Capital Cuts Stock Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Arjuna Capital lessened its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,892 shares of the company’s stock after selling 555 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in Novartis by 13.2% in the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 5,742 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at about $266,000. Cypress Capital Group raised its position in shares of Novartis by 84.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Novartis by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,909,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Cfra Research raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.33.

Novartis Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE NVS opened at $128.96 on Tuesday. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $134.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $272.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $128.42 and a 200 day moving average of $122.89.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 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.