Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $82.62, but opened at $86.43. Novo Nordisk A/S shares last traded at $86.03, with a volume of 2,145,403 shares.

The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 86.32% and a net margin of 35.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on NVO. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NVO. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.19. The company has a market cap of $386.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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.