Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Price Target Raised to $120.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) had its price objective increased by BMO Capital Markets from $118.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 10.72% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NVS. Bank of America cut Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. 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 research report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS opened at $108.38 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $115.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.01. Novartis has a 12-month low of $92.35 and a 12-month high of $120.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.53 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Novartis will post 7.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 536,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,767 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the second quarter valued at about $15,044,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 6.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 180,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,485,000 after buying an additional 11,080 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Novartis by 33.3% during the second quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,938,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Novartis during the first quarter valued at about $2,968,000. 13.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.