Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Up 1.6% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Novo Nordisk A/S shares increased by 1.6%, trading at $59.68 with a significant volume spike of 26% compared to average trading volumes.
• Several brokerages have upgraded their ratings on Novo Nordisk, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $77.50.
• The company recently reported earnings of $0.97 per share, surpassing expectations, and announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.4119 per share.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) shot up 1.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $60.10 and last traded at $59.68. 15,315,018 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 26% from the average session volume of 12,183,284 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on NVO. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.50.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 1.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $266.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $54.92 and a 200-day moving average of $63.84.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $11.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $77.51 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 78.64% and a net margin of 35.60%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.4119 per share. This represents a 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 presently 22.53%.

Institutional Trading of Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 18,885,343 shares of the company's stock worth $1,303,466,000 after buying an additional 63,341 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 12,576,031 shares of the company's stock worth $867,998,000 after buying an additional 187,789 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 301,443.6% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 10,005,216 shares of the company's stock worth $690,560,000 after purchasing an additional 10,001,898 shares during the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.9% during the first quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 9,521,912 shares of the company's stock worth $661,202,000 after purchasing an additional 617,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 11.7% during the second quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 6,192,636 shares of the company's stock worth $427,416,000 after purchasing an additional 649,390 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.

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