Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Trading Down 1.3%

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s share price fell 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $123.21 and last traded at $124.46. 1,152,898 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 4,787,463 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NVO. UBS Group began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $126.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.98. The stock has a market cap of $569.29 billion, a PE ratio of 46.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.05. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 90.36% and a net margin of 36.03%. The firm had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. Research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.664 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 49.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 23,419,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,129,761,000 after purchasing an additional 11,727,507 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth $718,995,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 122.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,077,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,098,328,000 after acquiring an additional 6,654,614 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 96.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,215,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,021,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 91.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 9,097,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,350,862 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Company Profile

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.