Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $134.24 and last traded at $133.94, with a volume of 193670 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $132.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday. Cfra Research upgraded Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. HC Wainwright cut Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $118.00 price objective (down previously from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.33.

Novartis Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $129.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.18.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.26 by ($0.01). Novartis had a return on equity of 41.21% and a net margin of 26.49%.The company had revenue of $14.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 60.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,660,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,252 shares in the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its position in Novartis by 12,664.1% in the 1st quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 1,383,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,204,000 after buying an additional 1,372,407 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Novartis by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,648,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,362,000 after acquiring an additional 720,860 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,563,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 85.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,045,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,035,000 after acquiring an additional 480,201 shares during the last quarter. 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.