Eukles Asset Management Trims Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Eukles Asset Management decreased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,645 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,939 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S accounts for 1.8% of Eukles Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $4,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,635 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter valued at $98,765,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,052,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,477,000 after purchasing an additional 451,641 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth about $42,017,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,655.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 280,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,388,000 after buying an additional 270,234 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NVO opened at $86.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $91.46 and a 200 day moving average of $111.36. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $78.17 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 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 paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is presently 21.88%.

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.