Ledyard National Bank Takes Position in Novartis AG $NVS

Ledyard National Bank purchased a new stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Essex Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 4,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 24,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,978,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 7,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Up 0.7%

Novartis stock opened at $122.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $127.44 and a 200-day moving average of $120.03. Novartis AG has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $133.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $259.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.64.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The business had revenue of $13.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.06 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVS has been the subject of several research reports. Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.33.

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.