Capital Investment Advisors LLC Has $447,000 Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,014 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 46,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,185,000 after purchasing an additional 3,381 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Novartis by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 5,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Novartis by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perennial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Perennial Advisors LLC now owns 42,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,686,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NVS. BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NVS opened at $118.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.78.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.