Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Stock Price Down 5% – Time to Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s stock price dropped 5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $73.80 and last traded at $74.18. Approximately 3,716,135 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 5,352,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.15 and a 200-day moving average of $103.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $340.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a 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 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

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,556,460 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $995,397,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947,771 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,639,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth about $158,657,000. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.