Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Trading Up 5% – Should You Buy?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s share price shot up 5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $88.48 and last traded at $87.94. 4,985,417 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 8,943,222 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on NVO shares. 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 lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $396.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.72%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,727.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.