Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Posts Earnings Results

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. Novartis’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.97 EPS.

Novartis Stock Up 0.5%

NVS stock opened at $115.12 on Friday. Novartis has a 12 month low of $96.06 and a 12 month high of $124.83. The firm has a market cap of $243.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.67.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $1,764,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 102.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after buying an additional 11,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.