Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Acquired by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 651,855 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,576 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S makes up approximately 1.1% of Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $56,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,588,000 after acquiring an additional 40,475 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,526,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,939,000 after purchasing an additional 36,223 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $366,125,000 after purchasing an additional 80,070 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,942,000 after buying an additional 1,796,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,362,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,266,000 after buying an additional 47,496 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $83.90 on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52 week low of $78.17 and a 52 week high of $148.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $376.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.21.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. 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.