Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 4,706 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Meritage Portfolio Management reduced its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 199,087 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,706 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S comprises 1.1% of Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $17,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,125,000 after buying an additional 80,070 shares in the last quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 63,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,482,000 after purchasing an additional 19,870 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. Talbot Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth $4,066,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 57.0% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 18,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 6,726 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on NVO shares. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NVO stock opened at $82.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $92.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $78.17 and a 12-month high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 35.03% and a return on equity of 86.32%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

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.