Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Novartis from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $123.00 to $136.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.25.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $161.45 on Friday. Novartis has a twelve month low of $122.86 and a twelve month high of $170.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $308.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.21. Novartis had a return on equity of 41.04% and a net margin of 18.11%. The company had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novartis will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,962,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $758,067,000 after buying an additional 413,778 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Novartis by 0.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,330,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,308,000 after acquiring an additional 19,595 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Novartis by 1.9% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,275,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,649,000 after acquiring an additional 41,520 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $220,004,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Novartis by 9.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 619,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,594,000 after acquiring an additional 54,262 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis AG is a Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative medicines. The company’s research and commercial activities span areas including cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, immunology, neuroscience, oncology and hematology. Its portfolio includes prescription medicines such as Entresto, Cosentyx, Kisqali, Kesimpta, Leqvio, Pluvicto and Scemblix.

Novartis serves patients and healthcare providers in markets around the world.