Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 380 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,598 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Folketrygdfondet grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,917,000 after acquiring an additional 40,313 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,416,000 after buying an additional 1,021,498 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter worth $404,910,000. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,588,000 after buying an additional 40,475 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,311,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,615,000 after buying an additional 692,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $76.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $344.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $73.80 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.98.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 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%. Equities research 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 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on NVO. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.