New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 52,568 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 66.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 131,236 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,568 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $11,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,588,000 after purchasing an additional 40,475 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,125,000 after buying an additional 80,070 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,362,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,266,000 after acquiring an additional 47,496 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 75.1% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,052,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,477,000 after acquiring an additional 451,641 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 790,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,141,000 after acquiring an additional 181,933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, 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 Wednesday, November 6th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $90.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $406.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $77.82 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $85.66 and its 200 day moving average is $107.72.

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 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%. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.88%.

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.