Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,734 shares of the company’s stock after selling 312 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Novartis during the second quarter valued at $64,610,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Novartis by 343.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,652,000 after purchasing an additional 509,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in Novartis by 10,528.6% during 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. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $104.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $214.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.30. Novartis AG has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 report on Thursday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.