Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Stock Position Cut by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors reduced its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,446,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,997 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned 0.10% of Novo Nordisk A/S worth $382,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NVO. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 58.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,410,000 after purchasing an additional 23,223 shares in the last quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 63,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,482,000 after buying an additional 19,870 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 358.8% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 30,420 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,066,000. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NVO shares. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NYSE NVO opened at $57.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.54. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $57.28 and a 52-week high of $148.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is currently 49.54%.

Novo Nordisk A/S Company 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.