Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Now Covered by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on 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. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:NVO opened at $81.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $366.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $78.17 and a one year high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 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 dividend payout ratio is 21.88%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.5% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% during the third quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 9,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. 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.