Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sees Large Volume Increase on Analyst Upgrade

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday after Argus upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Argus now has a $180.00 price target on the stock. Approximately 2,314,580 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the previous session’s volume of 2,436,627 shares.The stock last traded at $155.9420 and had previously closed at $161.59.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on NVS. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Novartis from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays upgraded Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 target price on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust boosted its position in Novartis by 425.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in Novartis in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $329.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The company had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $4.773 per share. This represents a yield of 306.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is 36.31%.

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.