Lakeside Advisors INC. Sells 400 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Lakeside Advisors INC. lowered its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Novo Nordisk A/S accounts for 1.1% of Lakeside Advisors INC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 196.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NVO shares. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NYSE:NVO opened at $83.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $77.82 and a one year high of $148.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.48. The stock has a market cap of $376.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.47, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. Analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.88%.

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.