Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $87.17, but opened at $79.81. Novo Nordisk A/S shares last traded at $78.98, with a volume of 4,143,662 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NVO. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.86. The stock has a market cap of $359.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 expect 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 represents a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NVO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 441,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,615,000 after buying an additional 21,553 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,058,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.