Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $121.50.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS stock opened at $109.35 on Tuesday. Novartis has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. The firm has a market cap of $223.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.23.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novartis will post 7.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Novartis by 23.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,372,000 after purchasing an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Novartis by 191.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,771,000 after buying an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.