Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $123.38.

NVS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Trading Up 2.4 %

NVS opened at $115.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $236.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53. Novartis has a 52 week low of $92.35 and a 52 week high of $120.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, research analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

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.