Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 759,037 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 1,455,199 shares.The stock last traded at $94.17 and had previously closed at $95.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.33.

Novartis Stock Down 0.0 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $99.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $3.7772 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Novartis by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,488,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,609,000 after purchasing an additional 377,693 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Novartis by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,264,000 after purchasing an additional 54,683 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 102,209.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,522,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,517,637 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,399,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $386,031,000 after purchasing an additional 193,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Novartis by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,535,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,020,000 after purchasing an additional 761,545 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

About Novartis

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. It 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.