Bailard Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Bailard Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,828 shares of the company’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 100.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 23,419,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,129,761,000 after purchasing an additional 11,727,507 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the third quarter worth $718,995,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 122.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,077,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,098,328,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654,614 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 96.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,215,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,021,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 91.7% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 9,097,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,350,862 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on NVO shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Friday, April 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.60.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE:NVO opened at $126.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.82. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $75.56 and a 52-week high of $138.28. The firm has a market cap of $569.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.90, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $126.86 and its 200 day moving average is $111.98.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.05. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 90.36% and a net margin of 36.03%. The company had revenue of $9.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.14 billion. Research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.664 dividend. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.17%.

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.