Principal Securities Inc. Sells 7,767 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Principal Securities Inc. lessened its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,020 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,767 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $2,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of 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 in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at $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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at $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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company's stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 5.2 %

NYSE:NVO traded up $4.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $88.07. 15,117,993 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,263,626. The stock has a market capitalization 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 company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $77.82 and a one year high of $148.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.22.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 expect 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 disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NVO. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Company 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.