Barclays Upgrades Novartis (NYSE:NVS) to Strong Sell

Barclays upgraded shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on NVS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a buy rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $116.67.

Novartis Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $106.57 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis has a 12-month low of $92.19 and a 12-month high of $108.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $101.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $11.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 31.33% and a return on equity of 32.15%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novartis will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Novartis by 16.7% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,482,000 after buying an additional 4,897 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Novartis by 8.8% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth $28,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Novartis by 8.1% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 7,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Novartis during the third quarter worth $509,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.