Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Sells 10,988 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV reduced its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 63.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,250 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,988 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVO. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $215,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,635 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at about $98,765,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted 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 valued at $90,477,000 after acquiring an additional 451,641 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,017,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,655.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 280,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,388,000 after acquiring an additional 270,234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating on the stock. 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 on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NYSE:NVO traded up $4.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $88.07. 15,117,993 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,263,626. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $77.82 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The company has a market cap of $395.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $86.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.22.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 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 given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.