Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Trading 1.2% Higher - Should You Buy?

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) rose 1.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $83.41 and last traded at $83.31. Approximately 1,859,266 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 9,080,144 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on NVO. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, 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. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 0.5 %

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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.66. The company has a market cap of $376.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. 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. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio is 21.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company's stock worth $1,332,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,955 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position 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 worth $1,117,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,556,460 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $995,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947,771 shares during the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $765,917,000 after buying an additional 40,313 shares during the period. 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 worth $715,084,000 after buying an additional 123,681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.