Banque Pictet & Cie SA Boosts Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 66.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,179 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,437 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $3,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,635 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at $98,765,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,052,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,477,000 after buying an additional 451,641 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at $42,017,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,655.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 280,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,388,000 after buying an additional 270,234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NVO. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 1.1 %

NVO opened at $77.94 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $77.82 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $349.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.18.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.88%.

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.