Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Novartis AG reached a new 52-week high of $131.21 on Wednesday, showing strong performance in the stock market with a trading volume of over 1.3 million shares.
• Despite the stock rise, analysts have mixed ratings, with one strong buy, one buy, four holds, and three sell ratings, indicating caution from some investment firms.
• In its latest quarterly earnings, Novartis reported $14.05 billion in revenue and $2.42 earnings per share, both surpassing consensus estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue growth of 12.3%.

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $131.21 and last traded at $131.18, with a volume of 1329032 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Novartis from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Novartis Trading Up 2.6%

The company's fifty day moving average is $122.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $278.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.63.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.97 EPS. Novartis's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $266,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 47,548 shares of the company's stock worth $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,849 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,909,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 33,282 shares of the company's stock worth $3,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3,126 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,041 shares of the company's stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. 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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