Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

NVS has been the topic of several other reports. HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $104.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $213.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $100.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.45. Novartis has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. On average, research analysts predict that Novartis will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 128.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 528,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,554,000 after buying an additional 296,890 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,063,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 231,851 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,096,000. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,795,000. 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.