Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 2,903,060 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 1,956,747 shares.The stock last traded at $153.9560 and had previously closed at $153.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on NVS shares. Argus raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.20.

Novartis Stock Down 0.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $292.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 24.5% in the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 2,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 3.6% during the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Novartis by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 16,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after buying an additional 3,742 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Novartis by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 75,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,602,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new stake in Novartis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $277,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Novartis

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.