Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Holdings Increased by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 19.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,869 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,670 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $3,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First PREMIER Bank bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NVO. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.17.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $120.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.99. The company has a market cap of $541.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $86.96 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $9.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.91 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 87.43% and a net margin of 34.86%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.5126 per share. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is presently 24.83%.

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.