Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $120.3333.

NVS has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVS. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Tsfg LLC grew its position in Novartis by 366.0% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 233 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

NYSE:NVS opened at $131.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis has a 52 week low of $96.06 and a 52 week high of $133.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $127.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

About Novartis

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.