Zacks Research Brokers Boost Earnings Estimates for Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Novartis in a report issued on Monday, April 22nd. Zacks Research analyst E. Bagri now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $8.47 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $8.36. The consensus estimate for Novartis’ current full-year earnings is $7.13 per share.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.64 by ($0.11). Novartis had a return on equity of 29.90% and a net margin of 29.83%. The firm had revenue of $11.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share.

Several other research analysts have also commented on NVS. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novartis presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

Novartis Trading Up 1.1 %

NVS opened at $98.35 on Tuesday. Novartis has a 52 week low of $92.19 and a 52 week high of $108.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.99. The firm has a market cap of $201.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $3.7772 dividend. This is a boost from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.84%.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 valued at $479,264,000 after acquiring an additional 54,683 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 2.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,539,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,650,000 after acquiring an additional 51,391 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Novartis by 50.4% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,049,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,803,000 after buying an additional 686,847 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 167.6% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,827,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,125,000 after buying an additional 1,144,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,442,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,599,000 after buying an additional 33,791 shares in the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.