Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Down 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s stock price fell 1.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $86.38 and last traded at $87.04. 1,894,348 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 8,684,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.62. The stock has a market cap of $390.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.0% during the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,338,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 492.4% during the third quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 65,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,740,000 after purchasing an additional 54,028 shares during the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth about $274,000. Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at about $247,000. Finally, Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 106.8% during the third quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC now owns 6,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 3,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

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.