Horizon Investment Services LLC Buys 764 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Horizon Investment Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,699 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 764 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NVO stock opened at $69.36 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $69.18 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 market cap of $311.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $82.33 and its 200-day moving average is $99.11.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NVO. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

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.