Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Coverage Initiated at Morgan Stanley

Stock analysts at Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novartis (NYSE:NVS) in a report released on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an “underweight” rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NVS. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS stock opened at $107.73 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $220.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Novartis has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Equities research analysts expect that Novartis will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Novartis in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 503.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

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.