Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Downgraded to Hold Rating by DZ Bank

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) was downgraded by analysts at DZ Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America raised shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $158.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12. Novartis has a fifty-two week low of $97.71 and a fifty-two week high of $159.37. The firm has a market cap of $334.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $141.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $524.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 85,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,926,000 after buying an additional 11,500 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 132,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,001,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 13.2% during the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 49,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,975,000 after buying an additional 5,742 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 27.7% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 64,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,305,000 after purchasing an additional 14,032 shares during the period. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,491,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.