Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Shares Sold by Lantz Financial LLC

Lantz Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Novartis by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after buying an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 41,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,162,000 after acquiring an additional 8,116 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 314.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 41,815 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 368.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15,927 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.67.

Novartis Trading Down 0.5 %

NVS stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.22. 738,482 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,476,446. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $108.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. The firm had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.