Sterling Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,164 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NVO. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing 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 during the 4th quarter valued at about $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position 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 buying an additional 2,947,771 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,283,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,451,000 after buying an additional 1,602,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its position in 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 valued at $459,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021,498 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NVO stock opened at $66.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $296.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $77.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.95. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $59.32 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15.

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, 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%. On average, 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.7874 dividend. This is an increase from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NVO. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

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.