Brokerages Set Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Target Price at $120.33

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $120.3333.

Several research firms have weighed in on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd.

Novartis Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $132.41 on Friday. Novartis has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $133.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $279.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $123.57 and a 200 day moving average of $117.18.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The business had revenue of $14.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.