Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Acquired by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,384 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVO. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 19.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 54,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,852,000 after buying an additional 8,922 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.5% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 14,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,017,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 35.7% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 46,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,703,000 after buying an additional 12,363 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.2% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 29,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,183,000 after buying an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 27.6% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the topic of several research reports. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 29th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has 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, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.20.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $80.95 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.47. The company has a market capitalization of $363.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.45. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $78.17 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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.