Guardian Partners Inc. Acquires New Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 127,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,910,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVO. Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Fortis Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 45,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 11,039 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 4,598 shares of the company's stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 157.9% during the 4th quarter. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd now owns 71,341 shares of the company's stock worth $6,137,000 after acquiring an additional 43,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plancorp LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE:NVO traded down $1.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $70.18. 7,960,944 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,481,867. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

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Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. Analysts anticipate 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 announced 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 an increase 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 is 47.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.