Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Sells 10,299 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,299 shares during the period. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $8,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth about $530,000. Potentia Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 97.7% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 36,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 18,104 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after buying an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,539,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of 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. 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. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE NVO opened at $73.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $330.15 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $73.20 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.01 and a 200-day moving average of $99.94. 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 (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts forecast 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 dividend of $0.7874 per share. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.