Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Earns Market Perform Rating from BMO Capital Markets

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $64.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $105.00. BMO Capital Markets' target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.37% from the stock's current price.

NVO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO traded down $4.89 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.99. 32,192,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,975,692. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $75.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.71. 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 company has a market capitalization of $260.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $57.28 and a 1-year high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% during the 4th 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at about $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company's stock worth $995,397,000 after buying an additional 2,947,771 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $537,189,000 after buying an additional 2,639,693 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $158,657,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.