Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 31st

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) announced a semi-annual dividend on Wednesday, February 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.7874 per share on Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a 53.6% increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51.

Novo Nordisk A/S has raised its dividend payment by an average of 25.3% annually over the last three years. Novo Nordisk A/S has a dividend payout ratio of 45.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Novo Nordisk A/S to earn $4.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.2%.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO opened at $69.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $82.33 and a 200 day moving average of $99.11. 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 has a market cap of $311.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $69.18 and a 12 month high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,490 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 11.54% of the stock is currently 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.