Banque Pictet & Cie SA Boosts Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 66.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 36,179 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,437 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $3,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,588,000 after purchasing an additional 40,475 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,526,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,939,000 after purchasing an additional 36,223 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,125,000 after purchasing an additional 80,070 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,362,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,266,000 after acquiring an additional 47,496 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

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’s 50 day moving average is $89.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.18. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $77.82 and a 12-month high of $148.15. The stock 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 (NYSE:NVO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. Research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.88%.

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.