Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Down 1.3% - Should You Sell?

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $79.85 and last traded at $80.01. Approximately 2,621,546 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 6,991,633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Dbs Bank cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $112.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $67.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $358.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.66.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.92. The firm had revenue of $11.87 billion during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Folketrygdfondet lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.9% during the first quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 9,521,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $661,202,000 after buying an additional 617,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,312,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $715,084,000 after buying an additional 123,681 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.