Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 750,405 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,657 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Novartis were worth $79,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,006,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.8% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 224,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,882,000 after acquiring an additional 10,297 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $735,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.2% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 66,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,120,000 after acquiring an additional 2,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,267,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company's stock.
NYSE NVS opened at $114.53 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $234.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $115.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Novartis to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $120.70.
View Our Latest Stock Report on NVS
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.
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