Rakuten Securities Inc. Buys New Shares in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $2,129,761,000 after purchasing an additional 11,727,507 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,077,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,098,328,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654,614 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 96.5% during 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 last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 9,097,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,350,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at $718,995,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 0.9 %

NVO opened at $124.55 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $75.56 and a twelve month high of $138.28. The firm has a market cap of $558.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.41.

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 the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NVO. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.