How to buy Novartis shares

Novartis AG is a drug manufacturers-general business with stocks listed in the US. Novartis shares (NVS) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Here's how to invest if you're based in Australia.

How to buy shares in Novartis

1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a US company from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. If you're just starting out, look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Novartis. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: NVS. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Novartis reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. Weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Novartis, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Novartis. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

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Novartis share price

Use our graph to track the performance of NVS stocks over time.

Novartis shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2021-02-23.

52-week range	US$69.1801 - US$98.52
50-day moving average	US$92.9467
200-day moving average	US$88.6606
Target price	US$104.5
PE ratio	24.7159
Dividend yield	US$3.4 (3.87%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	US$3.52

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Novartis stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Novartis AG by TradingView

Is Novartis under- or over-valued?

Valuing Novartis stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Novartis's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Novartis's P/E ratio

Novartis's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 25x. In other words, Novartis shares trade at around 25x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Novartis's PEG ratio

Novartis's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.3355. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Novartis's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Novartis's EBITDA

Novartis's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$17.3 billion (£12.4 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Novartis's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Novartis financials

Revenue TTM	US$49.8 billion
Operating margin TTM	24.22%
Gross profit TTM	US$35.4 billion
Return on assets TTM	6.01%
Return on equity TTM	14.39%
Profit margin	16.22%
Book value	25.079
Market capitalisation	US$197 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Novartis shares

There are currently 5.4 million Novartis shares held short by investors – that's known as Novartis's "short interest". This figure is 20.8% up from 4.4 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Novartis shares can be evaluated.

Novartis's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Novartis's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Novartis shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Novartis shares traded daily (recently around 2.2 million). Novartis's SIR currently stands at 2.41. In other words for every 100,000 Novartis shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2410 shares are currently held short.

However Novartis's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Novartis shares, or, against the total number of tradable Novartis shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Novartis's short interest could be expressed as 0% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Novartis shares in existence, roughly 0 shares are currently held short) or 0% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Novartis shares, roughly 0 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Novartis.

Find out more about how you can short Novartis stock.

Novartis share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 111.86% of net profits

Recently Novartis has paid out, on average, around 111.86% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 3.84% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Novartis shareholders could enjoy a 3.84% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Novartis's case, that would currently equate to about $3.4 per share.

Novartis's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Novartis's most recent dividend payout was on 15 March 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 4 March 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Novartis's shares ever split?

Novartis's shares were split on a 1116:1000 basis on 9 April 2019. So if you had owned 1000 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 1116 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Novartis shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 10.4% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Novartis shares which in turn could have impacted Novartis's share price.

Novartis share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Novartis's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$69.1801 up to US$98.52. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Novartis's is 0.4867. This would suggest that Novartis's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Novartis overview

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Innovative Medicines and Sandoz. The Innovative Medicines segment offers prescription medicines for patients and healthcare providers. It also provides ophthalmology, neuroscience, immunology, hepatology and dermatology, respiratory, established, and cardiovascular, renal and metabolism medicine products. The Sandoz segment provides active ingredients and finished dosage forms of small molecule pharmaceuticals to third parties across a range of therapeutic areas, as well as finished dosage form anti-infectives. It also provides active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates primarily antibiotics; protein- or other biotechnology-based products, including biosimilars; and biotechnology manufacturing services. Novartis AG has a license and collaboration agreement with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to develop, manufacture, and commercialize inclisiran. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Novartis is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.003% of Novartis shares are held by insiders and 10.08% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Novartis?

  Novartis's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Novartis based?

  Novartis's address is: Lichtstrasse 35, Basel, Switzerland, 4056

• What is Novartis's ISIN number?

  Novartis's international securities identification number is: US66987V1098

• What is Novartis's CUSIP number?

  Novartis's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 66987V109