Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) traded down 0.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $121.79 and last traded at $123.45. 3,044,113 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 3,581,832 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVO. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $550.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $126.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.50.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 90.36% and a net margin of 36.03%. Sell-side analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.664 per share. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.0% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 5,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.6% in the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 35,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,516,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,126,000. Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.5% in the 1st quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 60,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,872,000 after acquiring an additional 11,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.