Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Trading Down 3.1% – Time to Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) dropped 3.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $86.92 and last traded at $86.60. Approximately 1,850,746 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 8,868,124 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NVO. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $392.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.18.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced 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 net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.7874 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,727.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 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.