Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $77.87, but opened at $82.10. Novo Nordisk A/S shares last traded at $82.46, with a volume of 3,002,681 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVO. Morgan Stanley began 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded 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 downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $395.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $86.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.48.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S's payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company's stock worth $1,117,790,000 after buying an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter worth about $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company's stock worth $995,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947,771 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $537,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,639,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter worth about $158,657,000. 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.