Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Purchased by Bristlecone Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 102.3% in the first quarter, now holding 24,869 shares valued at approximately $1.73 million.
• Equity analysts, including Guggenheim and HSBC, have downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from "strong-buy" and "buy" ratings to "hold," reflecting a more cautious outlook.
• Novo Nordisk A/S reported $0.97 earnings per share in its recent quarter, surpassing analyst expectations and indicating a strong net margin of 35.60%.

Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 102.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,869 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,576 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NVO. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,244,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $537,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,639,693 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter valued at about $158,657,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,492,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,332,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,955 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,689,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $403,356,000 after acquiring an additional 991,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 543.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,167,498 shares of the company's stock worth $100,428,000 after purchasing an additional 986,195 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. HSBC cut shares of 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. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $64.00 price target (down previously from $105.00) on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.67.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $51.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $67.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.60. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 52-week low of $45.05 and a 52-week high of $139.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.63.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 35.60% and a return on equity of 78.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 payout ratio is 45.05%.

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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