Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Makes New Investment in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 23,419,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,129,761,000 after purchasing an additional 11,727,507 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,077,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,098,328,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654,614 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,215,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,021,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,199 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 91.7% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 9,097,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,350,862 shares during the period. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $718,995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock traded down $2.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $126.23. 2,132,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,820,954. The stock has a market cap of $566.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.42, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $126.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.54. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $75.56 and a 12 month high of $138.28.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.05. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 36.03% and a return on equity of 90.36%. The firm had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.14 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.664 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVO. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.60.

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.