Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Receives “Neutral” Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reissued their neutral rating on shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a $121.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $119.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Novartis to a strong sell rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $118.38.

Novartis Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NVS opened at $116.50 on Thursday. Novartis has a 52-week low of $92.19 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $112.45 and its 200-day moving average is $104.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $238.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Novartis will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Novartis by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after buying an additional 6,767 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,485,000 after purchasing an additional 11,080 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Novartis by 314.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 55,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,563,000 after purchasing an additional 41,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,968,000. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

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.