Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Acquired by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 62.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,650 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,866 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947,771 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,283,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,416,000 after buying an additional 1,021,498 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 5.8 %

NYSE NVO opened at $64.76 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $290.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $59.32 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $77.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.34.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.7874 dividend. 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 was Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 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.