Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Sees Large Volume Increase After Earnings Beat

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. Approximately 1,710,355 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the previous session’s volume of 1,760,931 shares.The stock last traded at $104.97 and had previously closed at $104.75.

The company reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Novartis from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. HSBC downgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Novartis by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 7,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the period. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novartis by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 42,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,139,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 107,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,478,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its position in Novartis by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 47,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,652,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davidson Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Novartis by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 10,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $213.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

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.