Why Novo Nordisk Stock Eked Out a Win on Monday

Wegovy and Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) saw its stock price tick up slightly on Monday, on a media report about the possible entry of an activist investor. Market players cautiously bid the shares a little more than 1% higher on the news. Although this wasn't a giant gain, it was sufficient to top the S&P 500 index's basically flat-line performance.

An active activist

Citing unnamed "people with knowledge of the details," the Financial Times reported Monday that London-based activist hedge fund Parvus Asset Management is accumulating stock in Novo Nordisk. The FT's sources said that the goal is to influence the company's choice of CEO, as its longtime leader Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen stepped down from the post last month. A replacement has not yet been found.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Image source: Getty Images.

It wasn't immediately clear how much of a stake Parvus has managed to amass. Novo Nordisk is based in Denmark and listed on that country's main stock exchange. Per Danish securities law, a strategic investor need not disclose the size of a stake if its holding is below 5% of a company's equity.

While Parvus isn't a well-known activist investor to many Americans, it has been actively involved in European companies. Among the businesses in which it has taken a stake are discount airline Ryanair and storied Italian bank UniCredit.

Neither Novo Nordisk nor Parvus has yet commented on the FT article.

Watch for strategic shifts in the future

Activist investors often circle the water when a company is struggling and its share price sinks. That's been the case with Novo Nordisk, which has seen setbacks in its drug development activities lately while facing intensifying competition for weight-loss drug Wegovy.

I don't think investors should trade on the basis of whether an activist like Parvus will enter the company and begin agitating once it's there. The situation is worth monitoring, though, as a determined activist can indeed shape the strategy of a business.

Should you invest $1,000 in Novo Nordisk right now?

Before you buy stock in Novo Nordisk, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Novo Nordisk wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $868,615!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 173% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.