Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.75.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $138.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Novartis has a 1-year low of $97.18 and a 1-year high of $140.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.51.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $79,000. Keel Point LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 4.3% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 8,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Novartis by 21.5% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Steadtrust LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 2.3% during the third quarter. Steadtrust LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research Partners LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $745,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novartis Company Profile

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.