Novartis (NYSE:NVS) PT Raised to $120.00

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $118.00 to $120.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.56% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of Novartis stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $110.54. The stock had a trading volume of 106,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,336,505. The business has a fifty day moving average of $116.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.01. The firm has a market cap of $225.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis has a fifty-two week low of $92.35 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 1,029.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 4,333 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter valued at $207,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 21,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.