Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Position Reduced by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,820 shares of the company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NVO. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 651,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,073,000 after acquiring an additional 11,576 shares in the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 12,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NVO stock opened at $83.78 on Wednesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $78.17 and a 12-month high of $148.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $375.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.91.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a dividend 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

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.