Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) traded down 2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $75.52 and last traded at $77.24. 1,934,079 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 5,402,288 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NVO shares. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $344.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Commerce Bank boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 16.0% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 32,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,874,000 after acquiring an additional 4,489 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.9% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 14,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 79,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,166 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 16.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 204,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,360,000 after acquiring an additional 28,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

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.