Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 41,633 Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S $NVO

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) by 219.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,610 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,633 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $4,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NVO. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 184.8% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Disciplina Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 162.3% in the 1st quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY purchased a new stake in Novo Nordisk A/S during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NVO stock opened at $59.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1 year low of $45.05 and a 1 year high of $120.56. The company has a market cap of $266.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $54.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.51.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $11.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.51 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 78.64% and a net margin of 35.60%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.4119 per share. This represents a yield of 240.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Novo Nordisk A/S’s payout ratio is 22.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on NVO. Rothschild Redb raised shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Dbs Bank upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Zacks Research raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Novo Nordisk A/S from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.50.

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.