Northern Trust Corp Grows Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,689,098 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 991,022 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.10% of Novo Nordisk A/S worth $403,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 21,448 shares of the company's stock worth $2,554,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 69.8% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 33,929 shares of the company's stock worth $4,040,000 after buying an additional 13,949 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth approximately $311,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.3% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 13,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 36.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 3,750 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on NVO. Guggenheim downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE:NVO traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $65.67. 16,425,713 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,196,145. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $72.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.69. 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 one year low of $57.00 and a one year high of $148.15. The firm has a market cap of $294.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.54%.

Novo Nordisk A/S Company Profile

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.