Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Given “Hold” Rating at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports.

NVS has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $118.00 price target (down 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 report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $129.12 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $127.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.78. Novartis has a 1 year low of $96.06 and a 1 year high of $133.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $272.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 76.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 29.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Novartis by 17.2% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Novartis by 10.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 11,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novartis during the first quarter worth about $216,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.