Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

NVS has been the subject of several other reports. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright cut shares of Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on shares of Novartis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.75.

Novartis Trading Up 1.0%

NVS stock opened at $144.52 on Friday. Novartis has a 12-month low of $97.45 and a 12-month high of $146.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $134.77 and its 200 day moving average is $127.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $305.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.51.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 26.49% and a return on equity of 41.21%. Novartis’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.06 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 76.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 102.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,516,000 after acquiring an additional 11,444 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the first quarter valued at $1,764,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 1.3% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 39,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,377,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $216,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.