Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 40.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 790,425 shares of the company’s stock after selling 545,344 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $112,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor OS LLC boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 13,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.3% in the second quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC lifted its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.0% during the first quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC now owns 8,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NVO shares. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $125.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Novo Nordisk A/S from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.17.

Novo Nordisk A/S Price Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock opened at $127.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $572.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.42. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $86.96 and a one year high of $148.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.20.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $9.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.91 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 34.86% and a return on equity of 87.43%. Analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.5126 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is presently 24.83%.

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.