Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $62.62, but opened at $65.26. Novo Nordisk A/S shares last traded at $64.77, with a volume of 2,631,520 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $64.00 price objective (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is $72.40 and its 200 day moving average is $88.69. The stock has a market cap of $301.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend 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 is currently 49.54%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVO. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company's stock worth $995,397,000 after buying an additional 2,947,771 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $537,189,000 after acquiring 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 4th quarter worth about $158,657,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.