Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on NVS. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NVS stock opened at $104.65 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.09 and a 200 day moving average of $108.50. 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 has a 1-year low of $92.35 and a 1-year high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Novartis by 257.7% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 6,990 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Novartis by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 109,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,674,000 after buying an additional 3,121 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,908,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in Novartis by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 5,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 18.8% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,372 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

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.