Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Earns Hold Rating from Erste Group Bank

Novartis (NYSE:NVS)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Erste Group Bank in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NVS. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $103.09 on Tuesday. Novartis has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92. The company has a market cap of $210.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.34 and a 200-day moving average of $110.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Novartis by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 16,015 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 53.7% during the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after acquiring an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,225,000 after acquiring an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.