Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives $116.67 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.67.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $106.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.60 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis has a 1-year low of $92.19 and a 1-year high of $108.78. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $102.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.22.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.07. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. The company had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Novartis will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,746,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,264,000 after acquiring an additional 54,683 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,568,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,015 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,523,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,082,000 after purchasing an additional 14,686 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its position in Novartis by 40.1% in the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 2,065,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,819,000 after purchasing an additional 590,830 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 53.7% during the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,906,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,372,000 after buying an additional 666,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Company Profile

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.