William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $1.89 Million Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 58.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,002 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,933 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Folketrygdfondet increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 40,313 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $404,910,000. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,588,000 after buying an additional 40,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,311,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,615,000 after buying an additional 692,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $78.91 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $354.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 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 is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.72%.

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.