Raymond James & Associates Has $403.66 Million Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 12.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,143,731 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 340,549 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $403,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 23,419,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,129,761,000 after purchasing an additional 11,727,507 shares in the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter valued at $718,995,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 122.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,077,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,098,328,000 after acquiring an additional 6,654,614 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 96.5% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,215,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,021,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526,199 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 9,097,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,350,862 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE NVO traded up $1.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $126.85. 3,312,457 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,307,405. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $75.56 and a 12 month high of $138.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.98. The company has a market capitalization of $569.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.89, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.05. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 90.36% and a net margin of 36.03%. The firm had revenue of $9.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.664 per share. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a yield of 0.9%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 49.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.60.

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.