Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Strong Earnings

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. Approximately 1,016,056 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the previous session’s volume of 1,330,854 shares.The stock last traded at $112.16 and had previously closed at $115.63.

The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on NVS shares. Bank of America lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 73.5% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Novartis in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company’s fifty day moving average is $116.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.02. The company has a market cap of $224.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis Company Profile

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.