Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $123.38.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novartis in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating on the stock.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $117.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,095,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,307. The company's 50-day moving average is $110.89 and its 200-day moving average is $106.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $249.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.59. Novartis has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.16. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. The firm had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NVS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 60.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock worth $408,071,000 after buying an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 12,664.1% during the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company's stock worth $154,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372,407 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth $109,739,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at $88,339,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 14,376.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,079,000 after acquiring an additional 722,272 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.