Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) Shares Sold by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Meridian Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 33.7%, owning 15,492 shares worth approximately $1,076,000 after selling 7,885 shares in the first quarter.
• Novo Nordisk A/S reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.97, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.93, alongside a revenue of $11.69 billion.
• The company declared a $0.4119 semi-annual dividend scheduled for payment on August 26th, resulting in a dividend yield of 240.0%.

Meridian Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 33.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,492 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,885 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 20,742 shares of the company's stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 839,802 shares of the company's stock worth $58,316,000 after acquiring an additional 47,804 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 1st quarter worth about $390,000. Dover Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the 1st quarter worth about $505,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,466 shares of the company's stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated 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. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $83.75.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

NVO stock traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,399,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,473,044. The stock has a market cap of $227.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.63. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $45.05 and a fifty-two week high of $139.74. The company's 50 day moving average is $65.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.91.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $11.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.51 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 35.60% and a return on equity of 78.64%. Equities research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 240.0%. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.05%.

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.