Eukles Asset Management Sells 2,754 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Eukles Asset Management lowered its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,754 shares during the period. Novo Nordisk A/S makes up 2.7% of Eukles Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $5,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 23,419,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,129,761,000 after purchasing an additional 11,727,507 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,077,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,098,328,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654,614 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 96.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,215,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,021,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,199 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 9,097,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,350,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $718,995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NVO stock traded up $0.93 on Friday, hitting $123.68. The company had a trading volume of 3,169,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,856,419. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $75.56 and a twelve month high of $138.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $126.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.50. The firm has a market cap of $555.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.41.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 90.36% and a net margin of 36.03%. The company had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.664 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a yield of 0.9%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.17%.

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.