Wedbush Securities Inc. Lowers Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,711 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,534 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $7,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.3% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC lifted its position 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. increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 72.4% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 6.7 %

Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $62.58 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $62.37 and a one year high of $148.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.75. 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 capitalization of $280.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G 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 (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%. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.7874 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a yield of 1.2%. 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 47.72%.

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.