Toronto Dominion Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Toronto Dominion Bank reduced its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 88.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,270 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Novartis were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,264,000 after purchasing an additional 54,683 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,523,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,082,000 after purchasing an additional 14,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $120.70.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $115.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.30.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.