Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $131.80.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NVS. DZ Bank lowered shares of Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Barclays raised shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $112.00 price target on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Novartis by 13,687.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 4,628,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,594,726 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Novartis by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,876,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,033 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in Novartis by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,158,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,414,000 after buying an additional 895,255 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,638,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 77.7% in 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 during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $145.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $308.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.49. Novartis has a 1-year low of $97.71 and a 1-year high of $170.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.07.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Novartis had a return on equity of 40.53% and a net margin of 25.65%.The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a $4.773 dividend. This represents a yield of 306.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.02%.

About Novartis

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.