Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,551 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 180.5% during the fourth quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,011,000 after acquiring an additional 26,055 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth about $1,497,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 126,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,051,000 after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on NVO. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Friday, April 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $125.80 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.74. The company has a market capitalization of $564.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.41. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $75.56 and a 1 year high of $138.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 36.03% and a return on equity of 90.36%. The firm had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.14 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.664 per share. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.17%.

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.