Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Announces Semi-annual Dividend of $0.79

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) declared a semi-annual dividend on Wednesday, February 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.7874 per share on Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a 53.6% increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51.

Novo Nordisk A/S has raised its dividend by an average of 25.3% per year over the last three years. Novo Nordisk A/S has a payout ratio of 45.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Novo Nordisk A/S to earn $4.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.2%.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NVO opened at $69.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $69.18 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.11.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,490 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of 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 shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

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.