Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Now Covered by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an underweight rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $106.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.35. The firm has a market cap of $218.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis has a one year low of $92.35 and a one year high of $120.92.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Novartis by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

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.