Banco Santander S.A. Boosts Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 73,033 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,162 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $6,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% in the third quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 11,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.0 %

NVO opened at $87.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $391.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $77.82 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $84.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.07. 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 (NYSE:NVO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders 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 a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 47.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NVO shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

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.