Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Sells 3,177 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV reduced its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 42.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,332 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,177 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NVO. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter worth $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE NVO opened at $80.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $363.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $73.80 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on NVO. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

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.