Stifel Financial Corp Has $130.51 Million Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,517,167 shares of the company's stock after selling 240,123 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $130,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 2,688 shares during the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 274,230 shares of the company's stock worth $23,589,000 after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company's stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE:NVO traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.07. 7,825,765 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,960,736. 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 twelve month low of $57.00 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $278.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. On average, analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NVO. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $64.00 price objective (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Guggenheim downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $135.00.

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.