Cardinal Capital Management Grows Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Cardinal Capital Management boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 48,401 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $4,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,942,000 after buying an additional 1,796,635 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth $98,765,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,052,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,477,000 after purchasing an additional 451,641 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,017,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,655.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NVO. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NVO opened at $77.94 on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52 week low of $77.82 and a 52 week high of $148.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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, 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 expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.88%.

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.