Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Trading 0.5% Higher

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 0.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $124.54 and last traded at $123.39. Approximately 1,419,238 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 4,830,868 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business's 50-day moving average is $126.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.72. The company has a market capitalization of $550.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.41.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.05. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 36.03% and a return on equity of 90.36%. The company had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.664 per share. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roundview Capital LLC raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.6% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 18,803 shares of the company's stock worth $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,035,879 shares of the company's stock worth $559,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571,747 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 739,585 shares of the company's stock worth $82,131,000 after acquiring an additional 6,903 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 12.7% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 19,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,136,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 107,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,913,000 after buying an additional 15,996 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.