Novo Nordisk A/S Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:NVO)

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 31,884 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 34% compared to the typical volume of 23,880 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NVO. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from $160.00 to $156.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Novo Nordisk A/S in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVO. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 654.6% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 3,633,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,485,000 after buying an additional 3,151,584 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 10,608.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,813,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,635 shares during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 257,816.0% in the 2nd quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,593,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593,303 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1,300.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,244,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S during the third quarter valued at about $98,765,000. 11.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of NVO opened at $111.96 on Friday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $94.73 and a one year high of $148.15. The company has a market cap of $502.42 billion, a PE ratio of 38.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $124.75 and a 200-day moving average of $130.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.06). Novo Nordisk A/S had a return on equity of 87.43% and a net margin of 34.86%. The firm had revenue of $9.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.91 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.5126 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. Novo Nordisk A/S’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.66%.

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.