Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $157.57 and last traded at $156.94, with a volume of 2430294 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $156.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DZ Bank downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on shares of Novartis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Up 0.7%

The stock has a market cap of $340.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $142.89 and a 200-day moving average of $131.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $524.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $4.773 dividend. This represents a yield of 312.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVS. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,865,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 16,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,273,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 9,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 425.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HRT Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 157,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,736,000 after acquiring an additional 18,802 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.