Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Argus upgraded Novartis from a hold to a buy with a $180 price target, and the stock saw heavy trading Wednesday with 2,314,580 shares changing hands (versus 2,436,627 the prior session); the share last traded at $155.94 after a prior close of $161.59.
• Analyst coverage is mixed — two Strong Buy, six Buy, six Hold and two Sell — giving an overall MarketBeat average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.80, well below Argus' $180 target.
• Novartis reported an earnings beat with $2.03 EPS and $13.86B revenue for the quarter, and the company declared an annual dividend of $4.773 (ex-dividend March 11, payable March 16); market cap is about $330.8B with a P/E of 21.86.

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday after Argus upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Argus now has a $180.00 price target on the stock. 2,314,580 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the previous session's volume of 2,436,627 shares.The stock last traded at $155.9420 and had previously closed at $161.59.

NVS has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Novartis from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.80.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Novartis by 15.6% during the third quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 85,200 shares of the company's stock worth $10,926,000 after buying an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 132,536 shares of the company's stock worth $17,001,000 after acquiring an additional 6,924 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 439,879 shares of the company's stock worth $56,411,000 after acquiring an additional 23,978 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $928,376,000 after buying an additional 117,952 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 27.7% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,305,000 after buying an additional 14,032 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $330.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $4.773 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 295.0%. Novartis's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.31%.

About Novartis

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company's activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.

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