Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 448,911 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Polen Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,405,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 448,911 shares during the period. Novo Nordisk A/S accounts for about 1.5% of Polen Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $551,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 196.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on NVO. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $77.22 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.79. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $73.80 and a one year 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 firm has a market cap of $346.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. As a group, research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.