Guardian Capital LP Acquires 20,586 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Guardian Capital LP increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 211,452 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,586 shares during the quarter. Guardian Capital LP’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $18,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,727.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NVO shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective (down from $105.00) on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 4.0 %

NVO stock opened at $65.12 on Wednesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52 week low of $57.00 and a 52 week high of $148.15. The company has a market capitalization of $292.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released 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 net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. On average, analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 49.54%.

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.