Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Cut to "Hold" at Hsbc Global Res

Key Points

• Hsbc Global Research has downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a shift in investor sentiment.
• BMO Capital Markets also reduced its price target for Novo Nordisk A/S from $105.00 to $64.00, indicating a bearish outlook on the stock's performance.
• The stock is currently trading at approximately $47.02, substantially below its one-year high of $139.74 and has a current average price target of $93.67.

Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

NVO has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Guggenheim downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday. Dbs Bank downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.67.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVO traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $48.23. The company had a trading volume of 34,710,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,615,270. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.74. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $46.90 and a one year high of $139.74. The firm has a market cap of $215.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.63. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $69.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.95.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 80.94% and a net margin of 34.52%. The company had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 301,443.6% in 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. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the first quarter worth $370,272,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company's stock worth $537,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,639,693 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth $158,657,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 49.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,938,507 shares of the company's stock worth $331,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,051 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company's stock.

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.