Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $121.50.

A number of brokerages have commented on NVS. Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

Novartis stock opened at $98.35 on Wednesday. Novartis has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $105.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.56.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.