Employees Retirement System of Texas Increases Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 72,964 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,560 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $6,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% in the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $145.25.

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Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 5.3 %

NYSE NVO traded up $3.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.47. The company had a trading volume of 6,564,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,771,452. The firm's 50 day moving average is $78.23 and its 200 day moving average is $93.98. 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 fifty-two week low of $59.32 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15. The company has a market capitalization of $289.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. Sell-side 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 company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.54%.

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.