First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 2,262 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,677 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,262 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after buying an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 12,664.1% during the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,407 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Novartis by 489.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 564,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,369,000 after acquiring an additional 469,080 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Novartis by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,606,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,535,000 after purchasing an additional 422,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at about $24,763,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $125.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $265.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $127.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.51. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $133.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $13.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.06 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVS shares. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cfra Research raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. HC Wainwright downgraded Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.33.

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.