Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.06, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $12.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.20 billion. Novartis AG had a return on equity of 15.51% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS.

Shares of Novartis AG (NVS) traded down 0.42% during midday trading on Monday, reaching $84.61. 315,616 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.07. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $66.93 and a 12 month high of $86.90. The firm has a market cap of $198.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89 and a beta of 0.73.

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In related news, major shareholder Bioventures Ltd Novartis purchased 266,667 shares of Novartis AG stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $4,000,005.00. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Moreno Evelyn V increased its position in Novartis AG by 15.3% in the first quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 87,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,463,000 after buying an additional 11,520 shares during the period. Rosenbaum Jay D. increased its position in Novartis AG by 26.7% in the first quarter. Rosenbaum Jay D. now owns 4,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Cohen Lawrence B increased its position in Novartis AG by 17.2% in the first quarter. Cohen Lawrence B now owns 25,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after buying an additional 3,780 shares during the period. First Financial Bank N.A. Trust Division increased its stake in Novartis AG by 16.6% in the first quarter. First Financial Bank N.A. Trust Division now owns 4,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park National Corp OH increased its stake in Novartis AG by 5.4% in the first quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 294,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,899,000 after buying an additional 15,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.27% of the company’s stock.

Several research firms have issued reports on NVS. Leerink Swann reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Novartis AG in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. BidaskClub downgraded Novartis AG from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley raised Novartis AG from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Credit Suisse Group cut shares of Novartis AG from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $82.25 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. Finally, Cowen and Company restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis AG in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.71.

Novartis AG Company Profile

Novartis AG is a holding company, which provides healthcare solutions. The Company is engaged in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of a range of healthcare products led by pharmaceuticals. The Company’s segments include Innovative Medicines, Sandoz, Alcon and Corporate activities.