Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Rating Lowered to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Novartis was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating, reflecting a cautious shift in analyst sentiment.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from "underweight" to "equal weight" with a price target of $123.00, while the consensus rating remains at "Hold" with an average target price of $123.50.
• In its recent earnings report, Novartis posted $2.42 earnings per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and reported a 12.3% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $126.9410 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.62. Novartis has a 1-year low of $96.06 and a 1-year high of $128.03. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $119.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.71.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The firm had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 60.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,071,000 after buying an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 12,664.1% during the 1st quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,407 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $109,739,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 14,376.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 727,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,079,000 after purchasing an additional 722,272 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Novartis by 489.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 564,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,369,000 after purchasing an additional 469,080 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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