Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Earns “Hold” Rating from Erste Group Bank

Novartis (NYSE:NVS)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Erste Group Bank in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE NVS traded up $0.15 on Tuesday, hitting $103.19. The stock had a trading volume of 434,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,339,677. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.86 and a 200-day moving average of $110.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11. Novartis has a 52-week low of $92.35 and a 52-week high of $120.92. The company has a market capitalization of $210.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.58.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Novartis will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NVS. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the third quarter worth $28,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other 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.