Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 98 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its stake in Novartis by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after acquiring an additional 590,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 99.0% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 746,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,661,000 after acquiring an additional 371,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $115.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $236.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.21. Novartis AG has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.70.

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.