United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC cut its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 360,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,672 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $30,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 3,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 4,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Indie Asset Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Indie Asset Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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 $66.00 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.95. The stock has a market cap of $296.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52 week low of $59.32 and a 52 week high of $148.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. 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%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 49.54%.

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.