Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Price Target Raised to $116.00

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $114.00 to $116.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 17.10% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.00.

Novartis Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE NVS opened at $99.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.90. Novartis has a one year low of $92.19 and a one year high of $108.78. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $97.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.99.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 EPS 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 32.15%. The business had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Novartis by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,264,000 after purchasing an additional 54,683 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,539,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,650,000 after buying an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Novartis by 50.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,803,000 after acquiring an additional 686,847 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 167.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,827,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,442,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,599,000 after acquiring an additional 33,791 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.