Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Sells 501 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 501 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $2,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $366,125,000 after acquiring an additional 80,070 shares during the period. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 63,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,482,000 after buying an additional 19,870 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 358.8% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 38,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after buying an additional 30,420 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Talbot Financial LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,066,000. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NVO stock opened at $87.95 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $77.82 and a 1 year high of $148.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $84.91 and its 200-day moving average is $105.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted 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 net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.7874 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 47.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NVO. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.