Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Cut to Hold at DZ Bank

DZ Bank downgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on NVS. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Cfra set a $126.00 price target on Novartis and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Bank of America raised shares of Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Up 1.1%

NVS stock opened at $159.93 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $337.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $142.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Novartis has a 12 month low of $97.71 and a 12 month high of $160.18.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $524.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $4.773 dividend. This represents a yield of 312.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Novartis by 77.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,362,000 after acquiring an additional 720,860 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at $64,563,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,045,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,035,000 after purchasing an additional 480,201 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,479,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,562,000 after purchasing an additional 419,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Novartis by 242.0% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 528,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,873,000 after buying an additional 374,016 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.