Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Boosts Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,494 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $2,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marco Investment Management LLC raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% during the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 increased its position in shares of 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 worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% during the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 11,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NYSE NVO opened at $87.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.07. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $77.82 and a 52-week high of $148.15. The company has a market cap of $391.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.7874 dividend. 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

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.