Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE NVO opened at $76.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $73.80 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The company has a market cap of $344.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.34 and its 200 day moving average is $100.74.

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

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 47.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 11,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M. Kulyk & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.