Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Earnings Beat

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) saw strong trading volume on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 1,710,355 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the previous session’s volume of 1,760,931 shares.The stock last traded at $104.97 and had previously closed at $104.75.

The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 34.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on NVS shares. HSBC cut Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 503.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.50. The company has a market capitalization of $213.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57.

About Novartis

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.