Alta Capital Management LLC Sells 602 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Alta Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 204,229 shares of the company’s stock after selling 602 shares during the quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $17,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,588,000 after acquiring an additional 40,475 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $366,125,000 after buying an additional 80,070 shares during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC lifted its position 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 worth $172,678,000 after buying an additional 286,912 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,052,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,477,000 after buying an additional 451,641 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NVO. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NVO stock opened at $89.42 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.18. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $77.82 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The firm has a market cap of $401.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.45.

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 predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.