Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NVO stock traded up $1.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $77.22. 6,503,447 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,384,449. The firm has a market capitalization of $346.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $84.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.64. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $73.80 and a 52-week high of $148.15.

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Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, research 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.7874 dividend. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S's payout ratio is 47.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVO. Lighthouse Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $1,811,000. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $479,000. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $540,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 72,964 shares of the company's stock worth $6,276,000 after purchasing an additional 6,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.