BMO Capital Markets Boosts Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Price Target to $116.00

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) had its price objective hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $114.00 to $116.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

Separately, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an equal weight rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $115.00.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $98.35 on Wednesday. Novartis has a 1 year low of $92.19 and a 1 year high of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.99.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a return on equity of 31.12% and a net margin of 31.33%. The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Novartis will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $3.7772 dividend. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NVS. Private Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors 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.