Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $123.38.

A number of analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novartis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,372,000 after purchasing an additional 90,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,706,000 after acquiring an additional 368,171 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Novartis by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,522,000 after acquiring an additional 399,862 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,908,000 after acquiring an additional 296,950 shares during the period. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC grew its stake in Novartis by 4.6% in the first quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 1,258,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,313,000 after acquiring an additional 55,316 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Stock Performance

NYSE NVS opened at $112.60 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $109.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.07. The stock has a market cap of $237.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.56. Novartis has a fifty-two week low of $96.06 and a fifty-two week high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 37.24%. On average, equities analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $3.8695 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.05%.

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.