Brokerages Set Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) PT at $145.25

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $145.25.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NVO shares. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at about $389,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 135.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 830,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,434,000 after acquiring an additional 477,557 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 11,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth $1,811,000. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 1.1 %

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $69.36 on Monday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $69.18 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $311.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.11.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.72%.

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.