Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on NVS. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $106.17 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.41. The company has a market capitalization of $217.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.79% and a net margin of 23.56%. On average, analysts forecast that Novartis will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors grew its position in Novartis by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Allen Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Novartis by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.