Analysts Set Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Price Target at $141.20

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $141.20.

A number of analysts have weighed in on NVS shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Argus upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th.

Novartis Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE NVS opened at $159.82 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Novartis has a 1 year low of $112.34 and a 1 year high of $170.46. The firm has a market cap of $304.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.45.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a return on equity of 38.82% and a net margin of 24.87%.The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Novartis will post 8.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 93.0% during the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. CrossGen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust increased its position in shares of Novartis by 425.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

About Novartis

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.