Whipplewood Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% in the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. 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 valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on NVO shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NVO opened at $89.67 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $77.82 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The company has a market cap of $402.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

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.