Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Takes Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 12,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $404,910,000. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,588,000 after purchasing an additional 40,475 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,125,000 after purchasing an additional 80,070 shares during the period. DSM Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,007,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,678,000 after acquiring an additional 286,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,362,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,266,000 after acquiring an additional 47,496 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report 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 report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NVO opened at $87.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $391.25 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 1-year low of $77.82 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.72%.

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.