Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Trading Down 2.7% – Here’s What Happened

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s stock price fell 2.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $80.53 and last traded at $81.46. 2,550,585 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 9,115,332 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NVO. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 2.4 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 21.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,283,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,549 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 90,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,813,000 after purchasing an additional 29,787 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 8,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 60,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,172,000 after purchasing an additional 22,754 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.