Nemes Rush Group LLC Reduces Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Nemes Rush Group LLC reduced its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,165 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,198 shares during the quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $7,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after buying an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% in 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 during the period. Folketrygdfondet lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% during the 4th 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 period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $404,910,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NVO opened at $69.58 on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $66.88 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.17. 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 cap of $312.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last released its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.7874 dividend. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NVO. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

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.