Chase Investment Counsel Corp Cuts Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp trimmed its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 9.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,282 shares during the period. Novartis comprises about 1.9% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Novartis by 191.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $64,610,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Novartis by 343.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after buying an additional 509,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lowered 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 report on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $104.92 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $214.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $114.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.83.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis 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.