Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $121.50.

A number of research firms recently commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Novartis by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,626,000 after buying an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 191.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,771,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250,318 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Novartis during the second quarter worth about $64,610,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Novartis by 343.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 657,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,652,000 after purchasing an additional 509,567 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 10,528.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 324,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,511,000 after purchasing an additional 321,121 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Up 0.4 %

Novartis stock opened at $104.28 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $111.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.05. The stock has a market cap of $213.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.