Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have given Novo Nordisk A/S an average rating of "Hold," with one selling the stock, eleven holding it, and four buying it, while the average 1-year target price is $81.00.
• The company reported $0.97 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, along with a revenue of $11.69 billion.
• Recent changes in ratings include Zacks Research downgrading Novo Nordisk from "hold" to "strong sell," while BNP Paribas upgraded it from "underperform" to "neutral."

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $81.00.

NVO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Dbs Bank raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. HSBC lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $57.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NYSE:NVO opened at $54.94 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.66. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $45.05 and a 1 year high of $138.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $11.69 billion during 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.4119 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 240.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NWF Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 2nd quarter worth $540,000. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 2nd quarter worth $25,116,000. American Trust increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 7,721 shares of the company's stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,099 shares of the company's stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Saratoga Research & Investment Management increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 1,512,677 shares of the company's stock worth $104,405,000 after purchasing an additional 58,517 shares during the period. 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.

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