Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Grows Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 38.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,874 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVO. Spinnaker Trust raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 9,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NVO stock opened at $90.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $406.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.90. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $77.82 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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 presently 47.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NVO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.