American Century Companies Inc. Trims Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S $NVO

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 20.2%, selling 258,950 shares and retaining approximately 1,022,211 shares valued at about $70.98 million.
• Novo Nordisk A/S recently declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.4119 per share, which will be paid to shareholders on August 26, with a dividend yield of 240.0%.
• The company's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.97, surpassing expectations, and analysts predict a 3.84 EPS for the current year.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 20.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,022,211 shares of the company's stock after selling 258,950 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $70,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company's stock worth $1,332,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,955 shares during the period. Folketrygdfondet grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 9,521,912 shares of the company's stock worth $661,202,000 after acquiring an additional 617,974 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company's stock worth $537,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,639,693 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,692,554 shares of the company's stock worth $395,291,000 after acquiring an additional 576,900 shares during the period. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,543,246 shares of the company's stock worth $384,923,000 after acquiring an additional 202,443 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 topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $105.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Hsbc Global Res cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, HSBC cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Up 1.8%

NVO stock traded up $0.9920 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $54.7420. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,876,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,030,364. The company has a market cap of $244.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.63. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $45.05 and a 12 month high of $139.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm's 50-day moving average is $64.03 and its 200-day moving average is $69.92.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $11.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $77.51 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 78.64% and a net margin of 35.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.4119 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 240.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.53%.

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.