Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Down 5% – Time to Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s share price dropped 5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $73.80 and last traded at $74.18. Approximately 3,716,135 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 5,352,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 4.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $335.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.61 and a 200-day moving average of $104.04.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 47.72%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,125,000 after purchasing an additional 80,070 shares in the last quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 63,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,482,000 after purchasing an additional 19,870 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 358.8% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after purchasing an additional 30,420 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $4,066,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

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.