Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.16, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $13.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.92 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. Novartis's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS.

Novartis Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $3.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $114.35. The company had a trading volume of 2,104,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,560,823. Novartis has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company's fifty day moving average is $110.13 and its 200 day moving average is $106.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.60.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $3.8695 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NVS shares. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Novartis stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) by 76.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,153 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Novartis were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.