First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 1,198 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,828 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S comprises approximately 0.5% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $8,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 289,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,463,000 after acquiring an additional 37,346 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 192.7% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 11,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 7,565 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 453.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 265,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,095,000 after purchasing an additional 217,545 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the second quarter worth $1,624,000. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 305,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,364,000 after purchasing an additional 10,019 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on NVO shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Novo Nordisk A/S from $160.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.50.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NVO stock traded up $1.56 on Wednesday, hitting $113.54. The stock had a trading volume of 5,867,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,316,940. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $509.51 billion, a PE ratio of 38.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $125.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.19. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $94.73 and a one year high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.06). Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 87.43% and a net margin of 34.86%. The company had revenue of $9.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.91 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.5126 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.66%.

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.