Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $119.75.

NVS has been the topic of several research reports. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 13.2% in the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after purchasing an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $266,000. Cypress Capital Group lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 84.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Novartis by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after buying an additional 6,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth $1,909,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $131.17 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $277.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.52. Novartis has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $134.24.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.06 EPS. Research analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Company 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.