Royal Bank of Canada Sells 543,387 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Royal Bank of Canada cut its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,460,733 shares of the company's stock after selling 543,387 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.12% of Novo Nordisk A/S worth $469,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NVO. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth about $404,910,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 11,571,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $995,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947,771 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,639,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,283,317 shares of the company's stock worth $368,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,549 shares during the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on NVO. BNP Paribas started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company. Guggenheim cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $135.00.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVO traded up $2.59 during trading on Monday, reaching $66.96. 11,168,331 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,596,989. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $67.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.19. The firm has a market cap of $300.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.65. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12 month low of $57.00 and a 12 month high of $148.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 84.68%. The firm had revenue of $11.87 billion for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.