Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 478,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,629 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $41,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth $404,910,000. Amundi lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,311,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,615,000 after acquiring an additional 692,567 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 75.1% during 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 acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,017,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $172,678,000 after purchasing an additional 286,912 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $75.76 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.64. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $73.80 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $339.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.7874 dividend. This represents a dividend 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 is presently 47.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVO has been the topic of several research reports. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. 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 on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.25.

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.