Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Sold by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,629 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,603 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $2,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 40,475 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,074,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,125,000 after purchasing an additional 80,070 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,635 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew 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 buying an additional 451,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NVO shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $77.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $88.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.54. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $77.82 and a one year 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.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.88%.

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.