Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Lowered to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NYSE NVO traded down $1.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,876,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,412,643. The firm has a market capitalization of $344.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $73.80 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average is $83.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.22.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,332,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,955 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in 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 worth $995,397,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947,771 shares during the period. Folketrygdfondet grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,917,000 after acquiring an additional 40,313 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,312,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $715,084,000 after acquiring an additional 123,681 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.