Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Stock Price Up 2.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) were up 2.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $52.04 and last traded at $52.06. Approximately 6,270,712 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 11,385,890 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NVO shares. Dbs Bank cut Novo Nordisk A/S to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.75.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.63.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $11.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.51 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 78.64% and a net margin of 35.60%. On average, analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.4119 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 240.0%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 22.53%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 184.8% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the first quarter worth $27,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 174.1% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 444 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.