Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Up 1.1%

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) shot up 1.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $129.74 and last traded at $129.48. 1,043,598 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 5,186,988 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NVO shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 4th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Two 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 MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $576.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.54, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 36.03% and a return on equity of 90.36%. On average, equities analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.664 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is presently 49.17%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.6% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 10,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,628,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 2,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by 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.