Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Trading 5% Higher – Time to Buy?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s stock price rose 5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $88.48 and last traded at $87.94. Approximately 4,985,417 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 8,943,222 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $396.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $86.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. Equities analysts forecast 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 announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVO. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth approximately $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,397,000 after buying an additional 2,947,771 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,639,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth $158,657,000. 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.