Hemenway Trust Co LLC Reduces Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Hemenway Trust Co LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,756 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Optimist Retirement Group LLC grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 4,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Down 6.7 %

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $62.58 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $62.37 and a 52-week high of $148.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.75. The firm has a market cap of $280.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 research analysts anticipate that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders 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. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is presently 47.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on NVO shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. 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 for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.