Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on NVO. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 7.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NVO opened at $57.99 on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $57.28 and a 12-month high of $148.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.7874 dividend. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.54%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 21,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,554,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 69.8% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 33,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,040,000 after buying an additional 13,949 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth approximately $311,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 13,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 36.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 3,750 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.