JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Novartis (NYSE:NVS) to “Overweight”

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) was upgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on NVS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cfra set a $126.00 price objective on shares of Novartis and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. HC Wainwright lowered Novartis to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.33.

Novartis Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Novartis stock opened at $132.42 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $129.20 and its 200 day moving average is $123.49. Novartis has a one year low of $96.06 and a one year high of $134.24. The firm has a market cap of $279.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NVS. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Novartis in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Novartis during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors 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.