Bessemer Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Novartis AG $NVS

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 46.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 59,061 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,649 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $9,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NVS. Archer Investment Corp lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 93.0% in the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust increased its holdings in Novartis by 425.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.20.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $153.78 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $293.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.45. Novartis AG has a fifty-two week low of $112.34 and a fifty-two week high of $170.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The business had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.