Brokerages Set Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Target Price at $135.00

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $135.00.

NVO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday. They set an "underperform" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company's stock worth $1,332,655,000 after buying an additional 1,165,955 shares in the last quarter. 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. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted 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 acquiring an additional 2,947,771 shares during the period. Folketrygdfondet increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company's stock worth $765,917,000 after purchasing an additional 40,313 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company's stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NVO stock traded down $4.89 on Friday, hitting $57.99. 32,192,935 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,975,692. The company's fifty day moving average is $76.03 and its 200 day moving average is $92.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $57.28 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The company has a market capitalization of $260.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.54%.

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.