Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $1.07 Million Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,451 shares of the company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% in the 4th 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. acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% in the 4th 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. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NVO shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 5.9 %

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $82.44 on Wednesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $77.82 and a one year high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.99 and its 200 day moving average is $109.15. The firm has a market cap of $369.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45.

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

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.