Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12, Yahoo Finance reports. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE:NVS traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $110.02. 1,694,942 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,339,564. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $116.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Novartis has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.