Wedbush Securities Inc. Has $7.12 Million Stock Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Wedbush Securities Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 82,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,534 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $7,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 19,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 5,795 shares in the last quarter. Somerville Kurt F grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 8,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Puzo Michael J increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Puzo Michael J now owns 5,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 43,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 6.7 %

NYSE NVO opened at $62.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.75. The stock has a market cap of $280.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $62.37 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. On average, analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio 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.