Traders Purchase High Volume of Novartis Call Options (NYSE:NVS)

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 54,767 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,389% compared to the typical volume of 2,200 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on NVS shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Novartis in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Novartis from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, HSBC lowered Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.38.

Novartis Stock Down 3.5 %

NVS traded down $3.99 on Tuesday, hitting $111.48. 2,021,173 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,064,938. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.38 and its 200-day moving average is $107.87. Novartis has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $227.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.53.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.18. Novartis had a return on equity of 37.24% and a net margin of 23.56%. Equities research analysts predict that Novartis will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novartis

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Novartis by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,183,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,372,000 after purchasing an additional 90,823 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,668,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,706,000 after purchasing an additional 368,171 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Novartis by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,132,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,522,000 after purchasing an additional 399,862 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,002,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,908,000 after buying an additional 296,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Novartis by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,353,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,669,000 after buying an additional 70,314 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

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.