Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Down 0.7% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) fell 0.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $74.57 and last traded at $74.80. 2,005,473 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 5,430,226 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVO has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $314.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $82.78 and a 200-day moving average of $99.75.

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 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 analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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 47.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,655,000 after buying an additional 1,165,955 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947,771 shares during the period. Folketrygdfondet increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,917,000 after buying an additional 40,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,312,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,084,000 after buying an additional 123,681 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.