Augustine Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Augustine Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 19,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 196.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO opened at $83.78 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $375.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $78.17 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

Novo Nordisk A/S 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.