Novartis’ (NVS) Hold Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

NVS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $123.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (down from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

NVS opened at $121.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.64. Novartis has a twelve month low of $96.06 and a twelve month high of $133.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $127.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $13.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 42.01% and a net margin of 26.49%.The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Novartis by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Novartis by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 9,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its stake in Novartis by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 2,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co increased its position in shares of Novartis by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 3,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Novartis by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 4,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.