Argent Trust Co Acquires 1,824 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,958 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,781,000 after acquiring an additional 26,067 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1,356.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 13,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 12,347 shares during the last quarter. Cim LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,547,000. Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,045,000. Finally, Mark Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,035,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NVO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. Argus increased their price target on Novo Nordisk A/S from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Novo Nordisk A/S from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.17.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NVO stock opened at $134.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $605.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.52, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.94. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $86.96 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.06). Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 87.43% and a net margin of 34.86%. The company had revenue of $9.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.91 billion. Research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.5126 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.83%.

Novo Nordisk A/S Company 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.