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

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

NVS has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC lowered Novartis from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank restated a "hold" rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Novartis from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th.

Novartis Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE NVS traded down $2.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.83. 940,618 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,325,603. Novartis has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.95 and a 200 day moving average of $110.14. The stock has a market cap of $197.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 23.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,407,692 shares of the company's stock worth $788,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,610 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Novartis by 191.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,904,664 shares of the company's stock valued at $202,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,318 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,706,009 shares of the company's stock worth $196,225,000 after purchasing an additional 231,851 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,669,000 after buying an additional 70,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 938,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,986,000 after buying an additional 26,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company's stock.

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.