Means Investment CO. Inc. Sells 178 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Means Investment CO. Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $799,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVS. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 53.7% during the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 99.0% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 746,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,661,000 after purchasing an additional 371,590 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $32,003,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at $16,715,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NVS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $115.93. The stock had a trading volume of 857,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,443,671. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $116.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $108.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Novartis

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.