Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Decreases Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 311,826 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,029 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $47,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 102.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,516,000 after acquiring an additional 11,444 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $1,764,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $155.31 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $149.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. Novartis AG has a one year low of $112.34 and a one year high of $170.46. The firm has a market cap of $296.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.82 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

About Novartis

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.