Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 402,326 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 89.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,477 shares of the company’s stock after selling 402,326 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $4,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NVO shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $61.41 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $79.45 and its 200 day moving average is $95.04. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $60.27 and a 1-year high of $148.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61.

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, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.7874 dividend. This is an increase 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is presently 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.