Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Up 0.2%

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $127.97 and last traded at $127.10. Approximately 632,210 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 4,746,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $126.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $126.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $568.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.87, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.41.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 90.36% and a net margin of 36.03%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.664 dividend. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.17%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 23,419,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,129,761,000 after acquiring an additional 11,727,507 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,077,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,098,328,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654,614 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 96.5% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,215,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,021,000 after buying an additional 4,526,199 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 9,097,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,350,862 shares during the period. Finally, Folketrygdfondet lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,756,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,124,275,000 after acquiring an additional 124,770 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.