Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $167.89 and last traded at $167.3980, with a volume of 348072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NVS. Barclays raised Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $148.02 and a 200 day moving average of $134.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $353.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.50.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $4.773 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a yield of 312.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVS. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 20,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth about $472,000. Cambient Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $588,000. Finally, Ruggaard & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 7,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

About Novartis

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.