Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Reaches New 1-Year High at $112.49

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $112.49 and last traded at $112.10, with a volume of 1054323 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $111.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NVS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Novartis in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 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, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upgraded Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novartis has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $229.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $106.52 and a 200-day moving average of $102.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.24 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 33.76%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 0.9% during the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Novartis by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 3,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 5.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Novartis by 3.4% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 99 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.