Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Up 3.1% – Time to Buy?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s stock price was up 3.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $77.29 and last traded at $77.12. Approximately 2,746,436 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 5,364,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on NVO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $339.60 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.83.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 10,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,243,000 after buying an additional 3,762 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 7.9% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 69.1% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.