Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Down 0.4% - Should You Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $82.87 and last traded at $83.59. 1,750,992 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 9,237,928 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NVO. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. 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 lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to 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 Stock Down 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $89.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.18. The firm has a market cap of $349.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a dividend 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 21.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter worth about $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake 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 worth $995,397,000 after buying an additional 2,947,771 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company's stock worth $215,942,000 after buying an additional 1,796,635 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,283,317 shares of the company's stock worth $368,451,000 after buying an additional 1,602,549 shares during the period. 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.