Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Reaches New 12-Month High at $112.54

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $112.54 and last traded at $112.54, with a volume of 6711 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NVS. Barclays raised Novartis to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Novartis in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Novartis from $121.00 to $122.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Novartis from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.13.

Novartis Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.92. The company has a market cap of $228.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $11.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.50 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 32.15% and a net margin of 31.33%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Private Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 269 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Novartis during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.