Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives $121.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.50.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS traded down $1.16 on Friday, hitting $99.06. 1,400,057 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,407,643. The firm has a market cap of $202.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis has a twelve month low of $92.35 and a twelve month high of $120.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $101.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novartis will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 6,171 shares of the company's stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 7,777 shares of the company's stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $303,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 30,840 shares of the company's stock worth $3,001,000 after buying an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Novartis by 782.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 785 shares of the company's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.