Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Stock Price Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) traded down 2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $75.52 and last traded at $77.24. 1,934,079 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 5,402,288 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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. Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. 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 two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $345.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $83.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.66.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 47.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Marco Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 11,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M. Kulyk & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during 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.