First Dallas Securities Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

First Dallas Securities Inc. cut its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,315 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,161 shares during the quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Folketrygdfondet grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.4% in the first quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,756,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,124,275,000 after acquiring an additional 124,770 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,589,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,102,857,000 after purchasing an additional 823,036 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,114,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $736,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,536 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 654.6% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,633,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,485,000 after purchasing an additional 3,151,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,373,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,697,000 after purchasing an additional 172,003 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NVO. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Monday, August 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.17.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of NVO stock traded down $2.99 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $131.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,018,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,322,003. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $590.29 billion, a PE ratio of 45.30, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $86.96 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $9.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.91 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 34.86% and a return on equity of 87.43%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.5126 per share. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 24.83%.

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.