Beacon Financial Group Decreases Stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Beacon Financial Group reduced its stake in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in Novartis by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 11,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.1% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 20,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 17.7% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in Novartis by 37.3% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional increased its holdings in Novartis by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $107.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $220.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $100.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.37.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

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.