Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Increases Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 297,996 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $25,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,790,000 after buying an additional 5,556,460 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $995,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947,771 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,416,000 after buying an additional 1,021,498 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,311,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,615,000 after purchasing an additional 692,567 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $70.18 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $69.77 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. 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 payout ratio is 47.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

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.