Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sets New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

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Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $124.86 and last traded at $125.21, with a volume of 33233 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $124.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.50.

Novartis Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $118.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.23. The company has a market cap of $263.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 25.64%.The company had revenue of $14.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 EPS. Novartis's quarterly revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 9.0% in the first 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. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company's stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Novartis by 11.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 38,600 shares of the company's stock worth $4,303,000 after purchasing an additional 3,846 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in Novartis by 17.2% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,032 shares of the company's stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 856.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 6,722 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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