Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 4,711 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lessened its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,711 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 425.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS stock opened at $154.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $295.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.45. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $112.34 and a 12 month high of $170.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Novartis Profile

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.