Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $5.24 Million Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 90.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,491 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,561 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $5,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,610,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Novartis by 343.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,652,000 after acquiring an additional 509,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in Novartis by 10,528.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,511,000 after purchasing an additional 321,121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $104.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $213.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.56. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.31.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly 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. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current 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.