Fulton Bank N.A. Sells 857 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Fulton Bank N.A. decreased its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,229 shares of the company’s stock after selling 857 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Private Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at $29,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NVS traded up $1.08 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $111.14. 782,113 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,466,346. 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 AG has a 1-year low of $92.19 and a 1-year high of $113.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $107.39 and a 200-day moving average of $102.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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 target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.13.

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.