Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Down 2.3% – Should You Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was down 2.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $87.85 and last traded at $88.79. Approximately 2,198,647 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 8,768,615 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the subject of a number of recent research 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 2.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.91 and a 200 day moving average of $105.74. 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 capitalization of $395.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 predict 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 47.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,117,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,639,693 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth about $158,657,000. 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.