Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Now Covered by Morgan Stanley

Stock analysts at Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NVO. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on 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. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 3.7 %

NYSE:NVO opened at $78.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $78.17 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.40. The stock has a market cap of $353.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 294,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,102,000 after purchasing an additional 13,203 shares during the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 2,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safeguard Financial LLC bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $330,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.