Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $78.79, but opened at $75.96. Novo Nordisk A/S shares last traded at $76.11, with a volume of 1,273,266 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 2.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $344.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 47.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,332,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,955 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,947,771 shares during the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,917,000 after acquiring an additional 40,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,312,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $715,084,000 after acquiring an additional 123,681 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.