Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Sells 5,225 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC cut its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 47.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,799 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,225 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 74.7% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 12,994,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,790,000 after acquiring an additional 5,556,460 shares in the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 8,903,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,917,000 after purchasing an additional 40,313 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 5,340,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021,498 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the fourth quarter worth $404,910,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 4,031,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,588,000 after buying an additional 40,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on NVO. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE:NVO opened at $73.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $73.20 and a 12-month high of $148.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $330.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.42.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.03. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 84.68% and a net margin of 34.81%. Equities research analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Novo Nordisk A/S’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. This represents a yield of 1.2%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.72%.

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.