Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Given "Buy (B)" Rating at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reissued a "Buy (B)" rating for Novartis (NYSE:NVS), indicating positive investor sentiment towards the stock.
• Recent earnings results show Novartis reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.42, exceeding expectations and showing a 12.3% revenue growth from the previous year.
• Several analysts have rated Novartis stock with mixed assessments, with the average rating being a "Hold" and a target price of $120.33, reflecting varying confidence levels in the company's performance.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on NVS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $118.00 target price (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of 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, two have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Up 0.3%

NVS stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $132.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 70,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,843,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Novartis has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $133.55. The company's fifty day moving average price is $124.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.64.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 3,170 shares of the company's stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 4.7% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 16,375 shares of the company's stock worth $2,100,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 8.1% during the third quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 16,880 shares of the company's stock worth $2,165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 7.1% during the third quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,150 shares of the company's stock worth $917,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StrongBox Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 3.5% during the third quarter. StrongBox Wealth LLC now owns 5,939 shares of the company's stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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