Leavell Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,968 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 196.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT increased its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% in 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. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NVO shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $77.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.31 and a 200-day moving average of $110.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $77.82 and a 12 month high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 3.86 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.88%.

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.