Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Has $4.43 Million Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,493 shares of the company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $4,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 28.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 10.8% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 3.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 115,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,207,000 after purchasing an additional 3,696 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.6% in the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 835,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,823,000 after purchasing an additional 21,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Novartis by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 10,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.4 %

Novartis stock opened at $104.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

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.