Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Stock Price Down 9% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) fell 9% on Monday . The company traded as low as $78.30 and last traded at $79.31. 6,031,872 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the average session volume of 5,326,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NVO. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of 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. Finally, 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. Three equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.25.

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Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.61 and a 200 day moving average of $104.04. The firm has a market cap of $350.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side 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 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 paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lighthouse Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,811,000. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $479,000. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $540,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 72,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,276,000 after acquiring an additional 6,560 shares during the period. 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.