Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $647,000 Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,408 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Novartis were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Novartis by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,568,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 41,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,162,000 after acquiring an additional 8,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 368.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15,927 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $99.07 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.05. Novartis AG has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $202.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $3.7772 per share. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s payout ratio is currently 32.79%.

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.