Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Upgraded to "Equal Weight" at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Novartis from an "underweight" to an "equal weight" rating, setting a price target of $123.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.14% from the current stock price.
• BNP Paribas also upgraded Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating, contributing to a mixed analyst consensus of "Hold" with an average price target of $123.50.
• Novartis reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 12.3%.

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Free Report) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $123.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novartis to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $123.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $116.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,585,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,143,527. Novartis has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $124.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.37. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $246.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.62.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $13.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.97 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Essex Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 4,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 24,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,978,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 7,749 shares of the company's stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.