Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Sells 19,676 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 498,263 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,676 shares during the period. Novartis comprises 1.9% of Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $57,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NVS. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company 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 given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $108.00 on Wednesday. Novartis AG has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $220.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.57.

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