Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd Lowers Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd lessened its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 74.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,628 shares during the quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,917,000 after buying an additional 40,313 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,021,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter worth about $404,910,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Three investment 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 MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NVO opened at $67.08 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a twelve month low of $63.67 and a twelve month high of $148.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.26.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

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