Townsquare Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Townsquare Capital LLC lessened its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 359,989 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,784 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $30,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 497,667 shares of the company's stock worth $42,868,000 after buying an additional 13,081 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX raised its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX now owns 3,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the fourth quarter valued at $2,023,000. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 285,791 shares of the company's stock worth $24,586,000 after acquiring an additional 5,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 19,140 shares of the company's stock worth $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 5,220 shares in the last quarter. 11.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $156.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.25.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NVO traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.41. 4,117,740 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,533,372. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business's 50 day moving average is $77.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.75. Novo Nordisk A/S has a fifty-two week low of $59.32 and a fifty-two week high of $148.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.61.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.7874 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/S's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.51. Novo Nordisk A/S's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.54%.

Novo Nordisk A/S Company 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.