Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Novartis had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 39.44%. The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. Novartis's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Novartis Trading Down 0.3%

NVS stock traded down $0.29 on Friday, hitting $114.23. 2,546,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,610,607. Novartis has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $124.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $116.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BNP Paribas raised Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 102.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company's stock worth $2,516,000 after buying an additional 11,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,764,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

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.