Quent Capital LLC Takes Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Republic Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 52.2% in the fourth quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 3,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 651,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,073,000 after buying an additional 11,576 shares in the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 12,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 2,395 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $78.78 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52 week low of $78.17 and a 52 week high of $148.15. The company has a market capitalization of $353.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVO has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on 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. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.