Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Stake Boosted by Claret Asset Management Corp

Claret Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 314.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,212 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,921 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $2,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NVO. Morgan Stanley began 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. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $64.00 target price (down from $105.00) on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 7.8 %

NVO stock opened at $57.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $57.28 and a 52-week high of $148.15. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.71.

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 return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 49.54%.

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.