Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 60.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,121 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,754 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $5,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NVO. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NVO stock opened at $69.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $69.18 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.89. The stock has a market cap of $311.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVO has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. 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, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S 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.