Westpac Banking Corp Purchases 12,068 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Westpac Banking Corp grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,746 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,068 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $6,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 4,984 shares of the company's stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVO. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE NVO traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $67.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,818,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,614,006. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $66.88 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

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 (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.72%.

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.