Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Short Interest Up 76.6% in December

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,300,000 shares, an increase of 76.6% from the December 15th total of 4,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.20.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO traded down $4.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $78.74. 21,239,835 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,296,463. The company has a market capitalization of $353.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.94. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $78.17 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.69.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.