Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Reduce" by the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $121.50.
NVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.
Read Our Latest Report on NVS
NVS opened at $99.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $202.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Novartis has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Novartis will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Founders Financial Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.8% during the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,091 shares of the company's stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company's stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.4% during the third quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company's stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.3% during the third quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company's stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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