Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases 194 Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,930 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings 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. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $116.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.36. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.19 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. One 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.70.

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.