Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Bought by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,607 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,617 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 10,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 3,762 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $78.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $350.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52 week low of $73.69 and a 52 week high of $148.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.04. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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