Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 1,225 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Kovack Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,798 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,225 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVO. HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.8% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 4,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 41.0% in the third quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 2,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 31.0% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 158,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,918,000 after purchasing an additional 37,585 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.7% in the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 41,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,976,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.9% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 8,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 1.6 %

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $90.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $406.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $77.82 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $84.82 and a 200-day moving average of $106.90.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio 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.