Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,364 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,454 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NVO stock opened at $87.19 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $77.82 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $391.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

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.