Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Shares Gap Up to $95.12

Shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $95.12, but opened at $98.74. Novartis shares last traded at $98.10, with a volume of 876,694 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NVS. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Novartis in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

Novartis Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.98 and a 200 day moving average of $98.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.54.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $11.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.69 billion. Novartis had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 29.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $3.7772 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Novartis’s previous annual dividend of $3.47. This represents a yield of 3.1%. Novartis’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.84%.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVS. Private Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Novartis in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novartis during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.