Equitable Trust Co. Sells 18,042 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S $NVO

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. has reduced its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.9%, selling 18,042 shares and leaving it with holdings worth approximately $3.39 million.
• Several large investors significantly increased their positions in Novo Nordisk, with Kingstone Capital Partners boosting its stake by an astonishing 301,443.6% to own over 10 million shares.
• Brokerages are optimistic about Novo Nordisk's future, as indicated by recent rating upgrades from several firms, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $77.50.

Equitable Trust Co. lowered its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 26.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,085 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,042 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $3,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 301,443.6% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 10,005,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $690,560,000 after purchasing an additional 10,001,898 shares in the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.9% during the first quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 9,521,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $661,202,000 after buying an additional 617,974 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 11.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,692,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $395,291,000 after buying an additional 576,900 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.8% in the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,543,246 shares of the company's stock worth $384,923,000 after purchasing an additional 202,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 1st quarter valued at $370,272,000. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NVO. Zacks Research upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Novo Nordisk A/S from $105.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.50.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NVO opened at $57.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $256.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.68. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $55.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.03. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $45.05 and a 12 month high of $120.47.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 78.64% and a net margin of 35.60%.The business had revenue of $11.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $77.51 billion. Equities research analysts predict 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 announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a $0.4119 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a yield of 240.0%. Novo Nordisk A/S's 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.

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