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

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s stock price fell 1.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $77.82 and last traded at $77.94. 9,865,736 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 9,598,048 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $349.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.54.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. This is a positive change 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 is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.88%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,955 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Folketrygdfondet increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,312,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,084,000 after purchasing an additional 123,681 shares in the last quarter. 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.