Nicollet Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Nicollet Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 40,621 shares of the company’s stock after selling 632 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S makes up 1.2% of Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $3,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,790,000 after buying an additional 5,556,460 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 4th quarter valued at about $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $995,397,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947,771 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,283,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on NVO shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $69.58 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.17. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $66.88 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $312.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Equities 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 firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. 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.