Bank of Nova Scotia Raises Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 62.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,650 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,866 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company's stock worth $995,397,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947,771 shares in the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company's stock valued at $765,917,000 after purchasing an additional 40,313 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,312,996 shares of the company's stock worth $715,084,000 after purchasing an additional 123,681 shares during the period. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $459,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021,498 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley started 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $64.00 price target (down from $105.00) on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO traded down $4.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $58.19. The stock had a trading volume of 18,435,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,900,468. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.55. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $57.36 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $261.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S's payout ratio is currently 49.54%.

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.