Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $119.75.

A number of brokerages recently commented on NVS. Weiss Ratings raised Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. DZ Bank downgraded Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 10,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Roundview Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Novartis by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its stake in Novartis by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 16,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,334,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $168.61 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $149.91 and its 200 day moving average is $135.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $356.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.50. Novartis has a 12-month low of $97.71 and a 12-month high of $170.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released 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 business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 25.65% and a return on equity of 40.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $4.773 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 312.0%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is 36.31%.

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.