Bleakley Financial Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Novartis AG $NVS

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lowered its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 44,137 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,806 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $6,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in Novartis by 93.0% in the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 425.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NVS. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Novartis Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NVS stock opened at $150.45 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $112.34 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $151.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.45.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.Novartis’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.28 EPS. Research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.