Highlander Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Highlander Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 23.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Highlander Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Ocean LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 149.3% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NVS shares. Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.13.

Novartis Trading Up 0.7 %

Novartis stock traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $112.87. 1,678,346 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,470,620. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.19 and a fifty-two week high of $113.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.37 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Company 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.