Novartis shares fall back as Morgan Stanley takes a break

(CercleFinance.com) - Novartis shares were down on the Zurich stock exchange on Thursday, following a recommendation cut by Goldman Sachs, which said it perceived a limited number of short-term catalysts.


At 2.30pm, the pharmaceutical group's shares were down nearly 2%, one of the biggest declines on the Swiss SMI index, which was down 1% at the same time.

In a research note, Goldman Sachs said it had downgraded its recommendation on the Basel-based laboratory to 'neutral' from 'buy'.

The intermediary justifies its decision by the stock's strong recent performance, the recent upward revision of consensus forecasts and a lack of immediate innovation drivers.

At 105 Swiss francs, compared with 119 previously, its new price target only highlights a potential upside of around 2%.

This downgrading comes after Novartis shares set a new all-time closing high above 102 Swiss francs on Monday.

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