Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Issues Earnings Results

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.12, Yahoo Finance reports. Novartis had a net margin of 33.76% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVS traded down $1.53 during trading on Thursday, hitting $108.38. 1,403,875 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,349,807. The company has a market cap of $221.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.57. Novartis has a 1 year low of $92.35 and a 1 year high of $120.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $116.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price (up from $119.00) on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America cut shares of Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.50.

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.