James Investment Research Inc. Has $438,000 Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

James Investment Research Inc. decreased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,757 shares during the period. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 294,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,102,000 after purchasing an additional 13,203 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.3% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 12,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.5% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 17,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 13.9% in the third quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Verde Capital Management bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth $1,320,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $77.94 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.70. 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 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 P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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, research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NVO. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.