Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.18 EPS

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) released its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18, Zacks reports. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%.

Novartis Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NVS stock traded up $0.38 on Friday, hitting $105.13. 2,475,830 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,821,415. Novartis has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $100.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on NVS shares. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

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.