Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $121.50.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NVS shares. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 2,272.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth approximately $343,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Rockland Trust Co. purchased a new position in Novartis in the second quarter worth approximately $244,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Novartis by 4,905.7% during the 2nd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 8,634 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $97.11 on Wednesday. Novartis has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The stock has a market cap of $198.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $106.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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.