Bailard Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Bailard Inc. lessened its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,686 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,662 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,017,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,007,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,678,000 after purchasing an additional 286,912 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 53.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 729,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,183,000 after buying an additional 254,475 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 1.4 %

NVO opened at $89.42 on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52 week low of $77.82 and a 52 week high of $148.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $401.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Novo Nordisk A/S Company 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.