Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NVO stock opened at $78.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $78.17 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.40.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novo Nordisk A/S

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,727.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

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.