Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Stock Price Down 7.1% – Time to Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) shares dropped 7.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $57.28 and last traded at $58.41. Approximately 13,599,813 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 131% from the average daily volume of 5,882,889 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NVO shares. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $64.00 target price (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 7.3 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $76.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.55. The company has a market cap of $261.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. 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 issued its earnings results 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, equities research analysts predict 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 disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is 49.54%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,117,790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,556,460 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,947,771 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $537,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,639,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter valued at $158,657,000. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

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.