Zions Bancorporation N.A. Grows Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 97.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,639 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,104 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $3,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 276.2% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 110,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,510,000 after purchasing an additional 81,163 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 18,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 287,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,723,000 after buying an additional 4,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. 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. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $75.30 on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $73.80 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The stock has a market cap of $337.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.35.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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