Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $78.79, but opened at $75.96. Novo Nordisk A/S shares last traded at $76.11, with a volume of 1,273,266 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NVO. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.25.

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Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 1.8 %

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $83.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.74. The company has a market cap of $338.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 (DPR) is presently 47.72%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,332,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,955 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,117,790,000 after buying an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company's stock worth $765,917,000 after acquiring an additional 40,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,312,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $715,084,000 after acquiring an additional 123,681 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.