Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 250 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marco Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% in the third quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 5.1% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.1% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 11,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,311,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NVO shares. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE NVO opened at $87.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.29. 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 market capitalization of $391.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced 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 return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. Research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid 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 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.