Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Bought by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,607 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,617 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Folketrygdfondet grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,917,000 after acquiring an additional 40,313 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth approximately $404,910,000. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,588,000 after buying an additional 40,475 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,311,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,615,000 after buying an additional 692,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,125,000 after buying an additional 80,070 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.0 %

NVO stock opened at $78.14 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.04. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $73.69 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The company has a market cap of $350.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.7874 dividend. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 47.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVO. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.