Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $123.38.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $112.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $238.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Novartis has a 12-month low of $96.06 and a 12-month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tsfg LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

About Novartis

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.