Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Shares Gap Up to $95.12

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $95.12, but opened at $98.74. Novartis shares last traded at $98.10, with a volume of 876,694 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

Novartis Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $97.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.99.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 31.12%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $3.7772 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.79%.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.