Novartis (NYSE:NVS) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $146.41 and last traded at $146.2560, with a volume of 441676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cfra Research raised shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America upgraded Novartis from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Novartis Stock Up 1.5%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.42. The company has a market cap of $310.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novartis

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Novartis by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,239,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,376,000 after buying an additional 117,952 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Novartis by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,581,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,427,000 after acquiring an additional 78,483 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Novartis by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,605,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,658,000 after acquiring an additional 78,390 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 7.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,371,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,107,000 after acquiring an additional 168,573 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 4.7% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,819,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,302,000 after acquiring an additional 82,369 shares during the period. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Novartis

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.