World Investment Advisors Decreases Position in Novartis AG $NVS

World Investment Advisors lessened its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,219 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,995 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Novartis were worth $6,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Novartis by 44.2% during the first quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Novartis by 6.5% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 43,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,685,000 after purchasing an additional 2,687 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $7,093,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 392.9% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 47,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,258,000 after purchasing an additional 37,876 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

Novartis stock opened at $159.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.42. 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 1 year low of $112.34 and a 1 year high of $170.46. The company has a market capitalization of $304.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.45.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.44 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novartis Profile

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.