Balentine LLC Sells 315 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Balentine LLC lowered its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NVO. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,942,000 after buying an additional 1,796,635 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at approximately $98,765,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 75.1% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,052,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,477,000 after purchasing an additional 451,641 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,017,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,655.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 280,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,388,000 after purchasing an additional 270,234 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE:NVO opened at $83.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $376.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $78.17 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.21.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.7874 dividend. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 21.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

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.