Strategy Asset Managers LLC Cuts Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC reduced its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,084 shares of the company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Intrust Bank NA raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 8,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 60.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 60,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,172,000 after buying an additional 22,754 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 3,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 297,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,634,000 after acquiring an additional 28,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 113.1% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 43,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,766,000 after buying an additional 23,238 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on NVO shares. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.1 %

NVO stock opened at $69.36 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $69.18 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $311.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $82.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.89.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a 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 is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

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.