Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd Increases Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 157.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,341 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,678 shares during the period. Novo Nordisk A/S accounts for about 7.9% of Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $6,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Plancorp LLC raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 167.5% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 90,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,806,000 after purchasing an additional 56,822 shares during the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 18,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 59,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after acquiring an additional 13,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Condor Capital Management increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 166.2% during the fourth quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 59,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,148,000 after acquiring an additional 37,365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on NVO shares. Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NYSE:NVO opened at $76.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.34 and a 200 day moving average of $101.22. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $73.80 and a 52-week high of $148.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $344.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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%. On average, 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 business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 47.72%.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

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.