Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $87.50, but opened at $91.50. Novo Nordisk A/S shares last traded at $91.28, with a volume of 1,616,064 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $406.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,125,000 after acquiring an additional 80,070 shares during the last quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 63,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,482,000 after purchasing an additional 19,870 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 358.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,346,000 after purchasing an additional 30,420 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at $4,066,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.