abrdn plc Takes $23.55 Million Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

abrdn plc bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 227,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,549,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 23,419,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,129,761,000 after buying an additional 11,727,507 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,098,328,000 after buying an additional 6,654,614 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 96.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,215,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,021,000 after buying an additional 4,526,199 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 91.7% in 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 buying an additional 4,350,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $718,995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO opened at $128.62 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $126.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.54. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $75.56 and a fifty-two week high of $138.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $577.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.14 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NVO. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S 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.