Renaissance Technologies LLC Grows Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,312,996 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 123,681 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S comprises 1.1% of Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $715,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth about $42,017,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 279,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,198,000 after acquiring an additional 17,641 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 269,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,059,000 after purchasing an additional 9,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 20.5% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 3,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NVO shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE NVO opened at $63.52 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $80.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.75. The firm has a market cap of $285.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. 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 52 week low of $60.61 and a 52 week high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 47.72%.

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.