B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $2.66 Million Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,999 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,075 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% in the 1st 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. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $114.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $234.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.17 and a 200-day moving average of $106.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share 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.