Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 40.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,364 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,454 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth about $2,605,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 26,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,290,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth about $404,910,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 48,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,169,000 after buying an additional 5,490 shares during the period. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 241.7% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 8,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 6,023 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $87.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $391.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $77.82 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

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, beating 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%. As a group, analysts expect 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 disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

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.