Stifel Nicolaus Downgrades Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) to Hold

Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on NVO. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NVO opened at $90.81 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $77.82 and a 12-month high of $148.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.74.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. Equities research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NVO. Spinnaker Trust increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 9,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the third quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% during the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

Novo Nordisk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Diabetes and Obesity Care, and Rare Disease.