Meridian Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 81.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,377 shares of the company’s stock after selling 103,509 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $2,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $90,477,000 after acquiring an additional 451,641 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,017,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $172,678,000 after acquiring an additional 286,912 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2,655.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 280,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,388,000 after purchasing an additional 270,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 53.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 729,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,183,000 after buying an additional 254,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NVO stock opened at $89.42 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $77.82 and a 12-month high of $148.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $84.84 and its 200 day moving average is $106.18.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. Research 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 business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S 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.