Novo Nordisk A/S $NVO Shares Sold by Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 36.0%, now owning 11,169 shares worth $771,000 after selling 6,289 shares during the second quarter.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Novo Nordisk A/S, with UBS lowering its rating from "buy" to "neutral" and Morgan Stanley downgrading to "underweight" while cutting the target price from $59.00 to $47.00.
• Novo Nordisk's reported quarterly earnings of $0.97 per share exceeded expectations, with revenue of $11.69 billion but analysts are forecasting lower earnings per share of 3.84 for the current fiscal year.

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,169 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,289 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 301,443.6% in 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S in the first quarter valued at $370,272,000. Amundi increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 49.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,938,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $331,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,051 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 15,919.9% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,044,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,137 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 118.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,594,544 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,725,000 after purchasing an additional 864,579 shares during the period. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 0.4%

NVO stock opened at $53.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $236.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.68. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52 week low of $45.05 and a 52 week high of $114.19. The company's 50-day moving average price is $56.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on NVO shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. HSBC set a $70.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $59.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $105.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.00.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.