Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV Makes New Investment in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,235,000. Novo Nordisk A/S accounts for about 1.1% of Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NVO. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% in the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.9% during 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. lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.6% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVO. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO opened at $68.00 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.68. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $305.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $66.81 and a one year high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.