Shares of Novo Nordisk ( NVO 4.37%) were moving higher on Wednesday. The company's stock gained 4.9% as of 1:50 p.m. ET, but gained as much as 5.8% earlier in the day. The leg up comes as the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC 0.26%) gained 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC 0.02%) lost 0.1% on the day.

The Danish pharmaceutical company expects sales growth to slow this year as capacity constraints, intensifying competition and pricing pressure drag on sales of its blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs.