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

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $77.15, but opened at $79.64. Novo Nordisk A/S shares last traded at $79.60, with a volume of 673,854 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NVO. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $363.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.81 and its 200 day moving average is $101.98. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date 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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after buying an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth about $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $995,397,000 after buying an additional 2,947,771 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,189,000 after buying an additional 2,639,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth about $158,657,000. 11.54% of the stock is owned by 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.