HM Payson & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,441 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth $404,910,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,588,000 after buying an additional 40,475 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,125,000 after buying an additional 80,070 shares during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,007,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,678,000 after buying an additional 286,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,362,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,266,000 after buying an additional 47,496 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NYSE:NVO opened at $87.19 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $77.82 and a 52-week high of $148.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.91 and a 200 day moving average of $104.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 47.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

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.