Riverbend Wealth Management LLC Makes New $401,000 Investment in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 7.0% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 763 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 52,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,263,000 after acquiring an additional 12,539 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 11,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $78.87 on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $77.79 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $84.77 and its 200 day moving average is $104.45. The stock has a market cap of $353.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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

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.