Gabelli Funds LLC Decreases Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Gabelli Funds LLC lessened its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $8,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 3,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 9.3% during the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 8,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in Novartis by 1.5% during the first quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 7,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Up 0.4 %

NVS traded up $0.39 on Friday, hitting $110.32. 858,869 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,470,298. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $112.48. The company has a market cap of $225.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $106.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.32.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.37 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.