Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Earns Sell Rating from The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs has reaffirmed a "sell" rating for Novartis, setting a price objective of $118.00, indicating a potential downside of 7.54% from the previous close.
• Analyst ratings for Novartis show a mix of sentiment, with one Strong Buy, one Buy, four Holds, and three Sells, leading to an average rating of "Hold" and a price target of $120.33.
• In the most recent quarter, Novartis posted earnings of $2.42 per share and revenue of $14.05 billion, surpassing analyst expectations and reflecting a 12.3% year-over-year revenue growth.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $118.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $119.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 7.54% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $120.33.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $127.62 on Friday. Novartis has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $130.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $269.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50 day moving average is $121.67 and its 200-day moving average is $115.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.97 EPS. Novartis's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC bought a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Tsfg LLC raised its position in Novartis by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GFG Capital LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

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.

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