Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 3,688.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,790 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,558 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marco Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 11,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, M. Kulyk & Associates LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NVO. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NVO opened at $77.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $346.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.01. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $73.80 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 currently 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.