Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Holdings Cut by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC decreased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 39.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,545 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,588,000 after buying an additional 40,475 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,125,000 after buying an additional 80,070 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,007,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,678,000 after buying an additional 286,912 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 75.1% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,052,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,477,000 after buying an additional 451,641 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE:NVO opened at $90.68 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $77.82 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS 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 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 currently 47.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. 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. 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.