LPL Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

LPL Financial LLC lowered its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,356,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,715 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $116,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NVO. Folketrygdfondet grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,917,000 after purchasing an additional 40,313 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,416,000 after buying an additional 1,021,498 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 4th quarter valued at about $404,910,000. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,588,000 after buying an additional 40,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.4% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE NVO opened at $75.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.89, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $73.80 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 47.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective 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. BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. 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 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.