Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $119.75.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. HC Wainwright lowered Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price objective on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Plancorp LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 77.9% in the 1st quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 8,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 807 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $408,071,000 after buying an additional 1,377,252 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

NVS opened at $141.53 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $298.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.51. Novartis has a 12 month low of $97.39 and a 12 month high of $143.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.99.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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.