Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,209 shares of the company’s stock after selling 361 shares during the quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 9.3% in the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS traded down $2.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $117.36. 140,280 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,401,885. The company has a market capitalization of $239.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.19 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $112.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.31.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.48 EPS 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.