Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Stake Lifted by Folketrygdfondet

Folketrygdfondet grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,313 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S accounts for 17.2% of Folketrygdfondet’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Folketrygdfondet owned 0.20% of Novo Nordisk A/S worth $765,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 441,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,615,000 after purchasing an additional 21,553 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 84,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,058,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on NVO. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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 $87.19 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.86. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $77.82 and a 12-month high of $148.15. The firm has a market cap of $391.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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

Novo Nordisk A/S Profile

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.