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

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.1 %

Novartis stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $103.19. 434,941 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,339,677. The company has a market capitalization of $210.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.86 and its 200 day moving average is $110.05. Novartis has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. Analysts predict that Novartis will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Novartis by 191.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth $64,610,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 343.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,652,000 after acquiring an additional 509,567 shares during the period. 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.