First National Trust Co Buys 338 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

First National Trust Co raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,954 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. King Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. Aviso Financial Inc. increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 33,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,072,000. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021,498 shares during the period. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $299,000. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $77.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $346.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $73.80 and a 12-month high of $148.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.01. 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 (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders 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. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.